House of Commons Commission

Parliamentary Estate: Power Failures

Sarah Olney: To ask the hon. Member for Broxbourne, representing the House of Commons Commission, how many power cuts have been recorded on the Parliamentary estate in each of the last five years; and where on the estate they occurred.

Sir Charles Walker: The House of Commons Commission has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Department of Health and Social Care

NHS: Drugs

Emma Hardy: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the Answer of 26 June 2023 to Question 189330  on NHS: Drugs, how many and what proportion of complaints about homecare medicines services were (a) opened and (b) upheld in each of the last three years.

Andrew Stephenson: Data on complaints open and upheld is collected by contracting authorities as part of the monthly key performance indicators (KPIs) they receive. Homecare providers also present this data to the National Homecare Medicines committee Supplier Engagement Sub-group during supplier engagement meetings. The data is not currently aggregated into a national figure. Work underway on KPI reporting means that such data is expected to be available from 2024.

Magnetic Resonance Imagers: Children

Grahame Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to reduce waiting times for children to access diagnostic MRI services.

Grahame Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the average waiting time is for a diagnostic MRI scan for a child at Sunderland Royal Hospital.

Andrew Stephenson: The National Health Service’s Delivery plan for tackling the COVID-19 backlog of elective care aims for 95% of patients needing a diagnostic test to receive it within six weeks by March 2025. £2.3 billion was awarded at the 2021 Spending Review to transform diagnostic services over the next three years. Most of this will help increase the number of community diagnostic centres (CDCs) up to 160 by March 2025, expanding and protecting elective planned diagnostic services. As of December 2023, there are 136 CDCs, which have delivered over five million additional diagnostic tests since July 2021.The remainder of the funding will increase capacity for imaging, including diagnostic magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) services, endoscopy as well as lung and mammography screening, and improve digital diagnostics.Growth in the MRI asset base and increased use of MRI acceleration software is creating additional capacity for approximately 572,000 MRI examinations per annum within the system. This capacity will be used to support both paediatric and adult waiting lists.As of September 2023, South Tyneside and Sunderland NHS Foundation Trust delivered 75% of all MRI scans for both adults and children within the national standard of six weeks. Between April and November 2023, the average waiting time for routine outpatient MRI for children under 16 years old was approximately 12 weeks. Children who arrive within the emergency department at Sunderland Royal Hospital who require an urgent MRI scan receive this within three hours of arrival.

Bowel Cancer: Screening

Gill Furniss: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 16 November to Question 881 on Bowel Cancer: Screening, when the last review of the national bowel cancer screening programme was completed; and what her planned timetable is for completing the next review.

Andrew Stephenson: The UK National Screening Committee (UK NSC) last looked at the evidence to optimise the population screening of bowel cancer in 2018. The Committee recommended screening every two years with the FIT test at 50 to 74 years old, rather than starting at 60 years old.Since then, work has been underway to lower the bowel cancer screening age from 60 years old in a phased manner, so that by 2025, people aged 50 years old will receive a FIT test.With these changes still being implemented, a date for the next review of bowel cancer screening has not yet been set. In the meantime, if any member of the public or stakeholder feels there should be further changes to the programme, these can be submitted via the UK NSC’s next annual call, which opens in summer 2024.

Occupational Therapy and Physiotherapy

Karin Smyth: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate she has made of the number of patients who required support from (a) physiotherapists and (b) occupational therapists in each of the last five years.

Helen Whately: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Earwax: Medical Treatments

Margaret Greenwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what data her Department holds on the number and proportion of ear wax removal treatments commissioned by integrated care boards that were carried out by private sector providers in (a) Cheshire and Merseyside and (b) England (i) between July 2022 and March 2023 and (ii) since April 2023.

Andrea Leadsom: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Earwax: Medical Treatments

Margaret Greenwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what data her Department holds on the (a) maximum and (b) minimum cost of an ear wax removal treatment by a private sector provider.

Andrea Leadsom: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Mental Health Act 1983

Abena Oppong-Asare: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether it remains her Department's policy to reform the Mental Health Act 1983.

Maria Caulfield: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Mental Health Services: Racial Discrimination

Abena Oppong-Asare: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps her Department is taking to reduce racial inequalities in the use of the Mental Health Act 1983.

Maria Caulfield: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Autism and Learning Disability: Hospital Wards

Abena Oppong-Asare: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what progress her Department has made on its commitment to reduce the number of people with a learning disability and autistic people in specialist inpatient care by 50% by March 2024 compared with March 2015.

Maria Caulfield: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Compulsorily Detained Psychiatric Patients

Abena Oppong-Asare: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many people have been detained under the Mental Health Act 1983 since the Independent Review of the Mental Health Act 1983 was published on 6 December 2018; and what progress her Department has made on tackling the disproportionate number of people from black and minority ethnic groups being detained under that Act.

Maria Caulfield: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Miscarriage: Bereavement Counselling

Navendu Mishra: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether her Department is taking steps to improve the provision of (a) mental health support and (b) other care for patients who have experienced early pregnancy loss.

Maria Caulfield: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Maternity Services: Safety

Navendu Mishra: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to her Department's publication entitled Final report of the Ockenden review, published on 30 March 2022, what steps she is taking to increase levels of safety in (a) antenatal and (b) maternity care; and whether the recommendations of that review have been accepted.

Maria Caulfield: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Perinatal Mortality: Coroners

Lilian Greenwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when the Government plans to publish its response to its consultation entitled Coronial investigations of stillbirths, which closed on 18 June 2019.

Maria Caulfield: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Pharmacy: Prescriptions

Karin Smyth: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many and what proportion of pharmacists have trained to become independent prescribers in each of the last three years.

Andrea Leadsom: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Pharmacy: Training

Karin Smyth: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many pharmacist training places have been available in each of the last five years; and how many pharmacists have taken up these training places.

Andrea Leadsom: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Pharmacy

Karin Smyth: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many and what proportion of community pharmacists have worked in England for each of the last 10 years.

Andrea Leadsom: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Pharmacy: Prescriptions

Karin Smyth: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many and what proportion of prescriptions were written by pharmacists in the financial year 2022-23.

Andrea Leadsom: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

NHS: Drugs

Emma Hardy: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether any homecare medicines services providers have been placed in an escalation process since May 2023.

Andrew Stephenson: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Coronavirus: Immunosuppression

Dr Philippa Whitford: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps her Department is taking to provide covid-19 (a) tests and (b) treatment to immunocompromised patients in winter 2023-24.

Maria Caulfield: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Chief Scientific Officer

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many people directly report to the Chief Scientist of NHS England; who the Chief Scientist of NHS England reports to; and if his Department will publish an updated list of the responsibilities of the Chief Scientist.

Andrew Stephenson: The Chief Scientific Officer (CSO) for England works across the health and care system and has a range of roles and responsibilities, directly reporting managerially to the NHS England Medical Director. Dependent on the function being delivered there are other reporting lines and accountabilities. The CSO oversees the delivery of approximately 100 people across multiple teams within the National Health Service; this includes eight direct reports and 10 individuals with specific accountabilities reporting to the CSO.

Inflammatory Bowel Disease: Health Services

Martyn Day: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of implementing a UK-wide blueprint for inflammatory bowel disease.

Martyn Day: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what data her Department holds on trends in the incidence rates of (a) Crohn’s and (b) Ulcerative Colitis.

Andrew Stephenson: We have no specific plans to make an assessment of the potential merits of implementing a UK-wide blueprint for inflammatory bowel disease. However, in England, NHS England is working with front-line clinical experts, patient representative groups and leading charities, including Crohn’s and Colitis UK, to improve diagnosis and treatment of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). This includes a new IBD RightCare scenario, which, when published, will set out high-quality joined-up care at every point of the patient journey, as well as data packs for local commissioners.In addition, the Getting it Right First Time specialty report on gastroenterology, published in September 2021, sets out actions and recommendations for the National Health Service to improve patient care and ensure consistency of care across the country. Information on trends in the incidence rates of Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis is not held.

Ambulance Services: Standards

Karin Smyth: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether her Department holds data on the number of coroner-reported deaths linked to ambulance response delays.

Helen Whately: Coroner statistics are published by the Ministry of Justice and are available at the following link:https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/coroners-statistics-2022/coroners-statistics-2022-england-and-wales#post-mortem-examinations-held

Dental Services: Pregnancy

Kerry McCarthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 20 November 2023 to Question 1067 on Dental Services: Pregnancy, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of the availability of free dental treatment for pregnant women.

Andrea Leadsom: To ensure everyone has access to dentistry when needed, there are a range of exemptions to National Health Service dental patient charges for those who need the most financial support. Support is also available through the NHS Low Income Scheme for those patients who are not eligible for exemption or full remission. We have also frozen dental patient charges between December 2020 and April 2023. Free treatment is available to all pregnant women.Patients do not routinely join NHS dental waiting lists and are only registered with a dental practice for a course of treatment. NHS dental practice profiles at NHS.UK show whether practices across England are currently accepting new patients. This information is available at the following link:https://www.nhs.uk/service-search/find-a-dentist NHS Dental Statistics for England, published by NHS Digital, brings together information on NHS dental activity in England, including information about courses of treatment delivered. 214,257 courses of treatment were delivered to expectant mothers in 2022/23, which is 0.7% of the total of 32.5 million courses of treatment that were delivered in the year. 47.5% of all courses of NHS dental treatment were delivered to non-paying adults and children in the same period.The NHS in England invests £3 billion on dentistry every year. We are working on our Dentistry Recovery Plan which will address how we continue to improve access for all NHS dental patients across England, including pregnant women.

Paediatrics: Waiting Lists

Karin Smyth: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate she has made of the number of children awaiting a community paediatrics appointment in England as of 17 November 2023.

Helen Whately: Data published by NHS England shows that as of September 2023, there were 78,181 children and young people on the waiting list for community paediatric services.The data is available at the following link: https://www.england.nhs.uk/statistics/statistical-work-areas/community-health-services-waiting-lists/

Social Services: Mid Bedfordshire

Alistair Strathern: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment she has made of the adequacy of social care capacity in Mid Bedfordshire constituency.

Helen Whately: The Department does not make assessments of the adequacy of social care capacity in specific local areas. Under the Care Act 2014, local authorities have a duty to promote the efficient and effective operation of their local care markets, to ensure services are diverse, sustainable, and high quality for the local population.

Telemedicine

Sarah Owen: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if she will make an estimate of how many patients are being treated on virtual wards for (a) respiratory conditions, (b) cardiology, (c) gastroenterology and (d) infectious diseases.

Helen Whately: The information requested is not held centrally.

Care Workers: Migrant Workers

Dame Diana Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make an estimate of the number and proportion of care workers who were born overseas that are (a) women and (b) men.

Helen Whately: Skills for Care data, published October 2023, shows that of the care workers recruited internationally since 2022, 68% were female and 32% were male. We do not hold data on the number of care workers born overseas.

Care Workers: Migrant Workers

Wendy Chamberlain: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the oral statement of the Secretary of State for the Home Department on legal migration of 4 December 2023, Official Report, column 41, whether she has made an assessment of the potential impact of reducing net migration on (a) recruitment and (b) retention in the social care sector.

Helen Whately: My Rt hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for the Home Department, has committed to put estimates of the impact of these announcements in the House of Commons Library. This will be done in due course.

Midwives: Labour Turnover and Recruitment

Navendu Mishra: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if she will take steps to increase (a) recruitment and (b) retention rates of midwives.

Andrew Stephenson: NHS England is already taking actions to grow and train the midwifery workforce. Actions are underway to continue funding the shortened midwifery course for registered nurses in 2023/24 and 2024/25. This provides registered nurses with a two-year programme to become registered midwives and will lead to the registration of over 1,000 more midwives by 2026.These actions are on top of progress already made over recent years, including a 13% planned increase in the number of midwives in training by 2024/25 compared to 2021/22.The NHS Long Term Workforce Plan (LTWP), published on 30 June 2023, sets out the steps the National Health Service and its partners need to take to deliver an NHS workforce that meets the changing needs of the population over the next 15 years, including the ambition to increase the number of nursing and midwifery training places to around 58,000 by 2031/32.The Government is backing the plan with over £2.4 billion over the next five years to fund additional education and training places. The following table sets out the planned intake of midwifery students over the course of the plan: Baseline* (2022)20252026202720282031**Midwifery Training Intake3,7784,2694,2694,2694,2694,269* Current intake is based on the Student Data Collection which includes undergraduate, postgraduate and apprentices** The planned level of increase sits within a modelled range, where the level required is dependent on productivity and retention levels alongside other factors.

Pharmacy: Finance

Sarah Owen: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if she will make a cost-benefit assessment of the Pharmacy Earlier Payment Scheme.

Andrea Leadsom: Pharmacies are paid in arrears for the provision of pharmaceutical services in the National Health Service. The Pharmacy Earlier Payment Scheme was a private scheme that gave community pharmacies early access to their payments for the provision of NHS pharmaceutical services. The scheme ended on 1 October 2021.In November 2021, the Department enabled early access to payments for all pharmacies. Pharmacies can claim for activity for a given month by the fifth of the next month and will receive payment around five days later.

Electronic Cigarettes and Tobacco: Regulation

Mary Glindon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the consultation on Creating a smokefree generation and tackling youth vaping, updated by her Department on 20 October 2023, for how long her Department plans to consider responses to that consultation before publishing a Tobacco and Vapes Bill.

Andrea Leadsom: Smoking is responsible for around 80,000 deaths a year in the United Kingdom and causes around one in four cancer deaths in the UK. It also costs our country £17 billion a year and puts a huge burden on the National Health Service.Vaping is rightly used by adults as a tool to quit smoking. They are substantially less harmful than cigarettes. However, the Government is concerned about the worrying rise in vaping among children, with youth vaping tripling in the last three years and one in five children having now used a vape.This is why the Government is planning to create a smokefree generation by bringing forward legislation so that children turning 14 years old or younger this year will never be legally sold tobacco products, and further crack down on youth vaping by consulting on measures to reduce the appeal and availability of vapes to children.We have received approximately 25,000 responses to our consultation and will publish a response shortly.

Electronic Cigarettes and Tobacco: Regulation

Mary Glindon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the consultation on Creating a smokefree generation and tackling youth vaping, updated by her Department on 20 October 2023, if she will publish an Impact Assessment of the proposals in that consultation.

Mary Glindon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, draft Tobacco and Vapes Bill whether her Department has made an assessment of the potential impact of the vaping proposals contained in that consultation on smoking cessation.

Andrea Leadsom: Smoking is responsible for around 80,000 deaths a year in the United Kingdom and causes around one in four cancer deaths in the UK. It also costs our country £17 billion a year and puts a huge burden on the National Health Service.Vaping is rightly used by adults as a tool to quit smoking. They are substantially less harmful than cigarettes. However, the Government is concerned about the worrying rise in vaping among children, with youth vaping tripling in the last three years and one in five children having now used a vape.This is why the Government is planning to create a smokefree generation by bringing forward legislation so that children turning 14 years old or younger this year will never be legally sold tobacco products, and further crack down on youth vaping by consulting on measures to reduce the appeal and availability of vapes to children.We will publish our Impact Assessment shortly.

Allied Health Professions

Karin Smyth: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent estimate she has made of the number of full time equivalent (a) physiotherapists, (b) occupational therapists, (c) speech and language therapists and (d) neurologists working in the NHS on average across each of the last five years.

Andrew Stephenson: The following table shows the number of full-time equivalent physiotherapists, occupational therapists, speech and language therapists, and neurologists working in National Health Service trusts and other core NHS organisations in England, in August 2018 to 2023: August 2018August 2019August 2020August 2021August 2022August 2023Physiotherapists19,01019,62620,60621,34622,02323,330Occupational Therapist14,98915,35915,86415,95316,00616,669Speech and Language Therapists6,0576,2726,3666,6606,8197,111   Doctors working in the specialty of Neurology1,3791,4441,5331,6021,6491,771Of which consultants789796838858888928Source: NHS Digital Hospital and Community Health Service Workforce StatisticsNotes: The information is based on the monthly NHS workforce statistics published by NHS England. The data includes staff employed by NHS trusts and other core NHS organisations. It excludes staff directly employed general practitioner surgeries, local authorities, and other providers such as community interest companies and private providers.

Prescriptions: Fees and Charges

Emma Hardy: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if she will make it her Department’s policy to include long-term conditions such as Parkinson’s on the list of exempted conditions for prescription charges in England.

Emma Hardy: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if she will review the list of conditions on the exemptions list for prescription charges.

Andrea Leadsom: While the Government’s policy remains that there are no plans to review the list of medical conditions that entitle someone to apply for a medical exemption certificate, there are extensive arrangements currently in place in England to ensure that prescriptions are affordable for everyone. Approximately 89% of prescriptions are dispensed free of charge and extensive arrangements are already in place to help those with the greatest need. Eligibility depends on the patient’s age, whether they are in qualifying full-time education, whether they are pregnant or have recently given birth, or whether they are in receipt of certain benefits or a war pension.

NHS: Software

Karin Smyth: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the cost to the public purse was of the (a) development and (b) maintenance of the NHS app in each of the last five years.

Andrew Stephenson: The NHS App was created in 2019. The following table shows the costs to develop, or transform, and run and maintain the NHS App in each financial year since 2019:Financial year2019/20 (£ million)2020/21 (£ million)2021/22 (£ million)2022/23 (£ million)Transform10.67.86.410.9Run/Maintain3.64.36.213.0Total14.212.112.623.9

Bowel Cancer: Screening

Gill Furniss: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 16 November to Question 881 on Bowel Cancer: Screening, what her planned timetable is for publishing a decision on lowering the screening age for bowel cancer from 60 to 50 years old.

Andrew Stephenson: NHS England started the lowering of age for bowel cancer screening in April 2021. The following table shows the rollout plan for the bowel screening:Cohort age at first invitationYear invitations startAge 562021/22Age 582022/23Age 542023/24Age 50 and 522024/25 Note: The timeline may differ slightly from region to region

Tobacco: Children

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make it his policy to not bring forward legislative proposals to ban the sale of tobacco products to people currently under the age of 14.

Andrea Leadsom: Smoking is responsible for around 80,000 deaths a year in the United Kingdom and causes around one in four cancer deaths in the UK. It also costs our country £17 billion a year and puts a huge burden on the National Health Service.This is why the Government is planning to create a smokefree generation by bringing forward legislation so that children turning 14 years old or younger this year will never be legally sold tobacco products. On 12 October 2023, we launched a UK-wide consultation to gather views on these proposals and their implementation.

Obesity: Surgery

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps she is taking to reduce waiting times for gastric band surgery for people who are clinically obese.

Andrew Stephenson: Cutting National Health Service waiting lists, including for gastric band surgery, is one of the Government’s top priorities. To facilitate this across elective services, we are increasing activity, with plans to spend more than £8 billion from 2022/23 to 2024/25, expanding capacity though creating a new network of community diagnostic centres, and maximising all available independent sector capacity. We are managing demand through specialised advice in primary care and giving patients more control over where they receive their care, and we are increasing productivity; through transforming outpatient services, developing new surgical hubs to increase theatre productivity, funded by part of £1.5 billion and working actively with trusts to support and challenge on their performance.As a result, we met our target to virtually eliminate long waits of two years or more for elective procedures in July 2022, and as of September 2023, a total of 10,196 patients still remain, a reduction of almost 92% from the peak of 125,000 in September 2021. We continue to make progress to hit our next ambition of eliminating waits of 65 and 52 weeks.

Inflammatory Bowel Disease: South West

Selaine Saxby: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps her Department is taking to ensure equal experiences of patients with (a) Chron's disease and (b) Ulcerative Colitis in the South West.

Andrew Stephenson: The Getting It Right First Time (GIRFT) national specialty report on gastroenterology was published in September 2021. Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) such as Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis is one of the conditions covered under gastroenterological services in the report. The report sets out actions and recommendations to improve patient care in gastroenterology. The aim is to reduce unwarranted variation in treatments and services in, which will ensure consistent care is provided to IBD patients across the country.The GIRFT programme is now embedded within NHS England programmes to improve quality and productivity, so that best practice is adopted throughout the National Health Service. RightCare scenarios support local systems to identify where patient outcomes, quality of life and service costs can be improved as the result of shifting the care pathway from a suboptimal journey to an optimal one that consistently delivers timely, evidence-based excellence of care. Once published, a new IBD RightCare scenario will set out high-quality joined-up care at every point of the patient journey.

Magnetic Resonance Imagers: North East

Grahame Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment has he made of the adequacy of MRI capacity in the North East.

Andrew Stephenson: Integrated care boards are ultimately responsible for planning and reviewing healthcare services in line with the needs of their populations.Growth in the magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) asset base and increased use of MRI acceleration software is creating additional capacity for approximately 572,000 MRI examinations per annum within the National Health Service in England. This capacity will be used to support both paediatric and adult waiting lists.

Inflammatory Bowel Disease: Health Services

Navendu Mishra: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps her Department is taking to support NHS services to make adequate provision to (a) diagnose and (b) manage Inflammatory Bowel Disease.

Andrew Stephenson: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for Loughborough on 17 November 2023 to Question 950.

Medical Equipment: Recycling

Kate Osamor: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what proportion of used medical equipment was recycled in each of the last three years.

Kate Osamor: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps her Department is taking to increase the amount of used medical equipment that is recycled.

Andrew Stephenson: As set out in the Delivering a ‘Net Zero’ National Health Service report, published in October 2020, the NHS is committed to reducing its environmental impact, including by cutting its carbon emissions and increasing the reuse and recycling of medical equipment. This commitment is then applied locally, considering local priorities, through local Green Plans. NHS England also collaborates with NHS Supply Chain to increase availability of reusable products and supports local NHS organisations through the publication of guidance and resources to help with implementing changes.As an example, the NHS has set out ambitions to expand existing walking aid refurbishment schemes. Arrangements for the return and reuse of walking aids are managed locally, to be adapted to the local context, and several NHS trusts already have local return and reuse schemes with over 200 return sites now featured on the Recycle Now website.NHS England is supporting local NHS organisations to increase walking aid return rates, with initiatives including running a national walking aid return campaign as part of recycling week between 16 and 22 October 2023; providing guidance to trusts on setting up or enhancing reuse schemes and planning communication activities; providing visual material to help communicate locally about the schemes in a consistent way; and directly supporting trusts with their pilot schemes.Regarding further equipment types, improving resource efficiency forms a key part of the Government’s Medical Technology Strategy, published in February 2023, where we are working with industry, the health and care sector, and academic partners to improve the extent to which we reuse, remanufacture, and recycle many different medical equipment types.Currently, the Department do not hold centralised data on the proportion of all used medical equipment that is recycled.

NHS: Staff

Sarah Owen: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to her Department’s contract Securing a Diverse Future for the NHS, procurement reference CF-2038900D0O000000rwimUAA, if she will make an assessment of the adequacy of the diversity in the NHS workforce.

Andrew Stephenson: The National Health Service has a diverse workforce. Latest data published by NHS England shows that as of June 2023, 27% of staff working in NHS trusts and other core organisations reported being from an ethnic minority group, compared with 18.3% of the United Kingdom’s population as shown in the 2021 Census. Over three quarters of staff working in NHS trusts and other core organisations are female.However, there is always more that can be done, on these and other types of diversity. The contract ‘Securing a Diverse Future for the NHS’, which is being delivered by The Prince’s Trust, aims to bring people from more diverse backgrounds into the NHS, particularly people from areas of higher deprivation.

Healthy Start Scheme: Expenditure

Mrs Emma Lewell-Buck: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how much her Department spent on the Healthy Start Scheme in the 2022-23 financial year.

Andrea Leadsom: 2022-23 financial year spend information is subject to the upcoming DHSC Annual Report and Accounts publication, which is due to be published imminently. Healthy Start costs will be available following this publication.

Dentistry: Migrant Workers

Mrs Helen Grant: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether she plans to have discussions with the General Dental Council on (a) reforms to the overseas registration exam and (b) steps the Council can take to (i) make use of the new powers granted to it by the Government and (ii) increase capacity of the dentistry workforce.

Andrea Leadsom: The Department meets regularly with the General Dental Council (GDC) to discuss registration processes for dentists with overseas qualifications. We welcome the GDC’s recent announcements that it is increasing the number of places available to sit the Overseas Registration Exam (ORE). The GDC has tripled the number of places on sittings of ORE Part 1 for all sittings from August 2023 to the end of 2024. The GDC has also added an additional sitting of ORE Part 2 in 2024, bringing the total number of sittings up to four.Earlier this year, the GDC carried out a public consultation on its proposals for international registration routes for dentists which include further increasing the capacity of the ORE while developing broader policy on international registration. The consultation also called for evidence to inform longer term plans for the assessment of international qualifications and registration, including the potential future structure of the ORE, and alternative routes to recognition that may enable overseas-qualified dentists to join the GDC’s register more quickly. The GDC will be publishing the outcome of its consultation shortly.The Department will continue to work with the GDC to ensure overseas registration processes are optimised.

Cancer: Obesity

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps her Department is taking to help prevent the occurrence of cancers in women linked to obesity.

Andrew Stephenson: Obesity is the second biggest preventable cause of cancer, and the government is taking steps to tackle obesity and help prevent the occurrence of cancers linked to this, including in women. New regulations on out-of-home calorie labelling for food sold in large businesses including restaurants, cafes and takeaways and Regulations restricting the placement of less healthy products in key selling locations in store and online came into force in 2022. We are also working with the food industry to ensure it is easier for the public to make healthier choices and make further progress on reformulation. On 7 June 2023, as part of action to treat those who are already living with obesity, the Government announced plans for a two-year pilot backed by up to £40 million to look at ways of expanding access to new weight loss drugs outside of a hospital setting.Furthermore, increasing the early diagnosis rates of cancers is a priority for this government. Several organisations, including the Department, are taking steps across England to increase diagnosis rates including setting stretching ambitions, supporting general practitioners (GPs) in referring patients, expanding diagnostic capacity, and enabling more precise diagnosis through technology.Backed by £2.3 billion of capital funding, the department is expanding diagnostic capacity across the National Health Service by rolling out more community diagnostic centres (CDCs), delivering vital tests, scans, and checks. With 136 CDCs open already and up to 160 set to open by March 2025, these offer millions of patients the chance to access quicker, more convenient checks outside of hospitals, with capacity prioritised for cancer. This is contributing to the elective recovery delivery plan ambition for 75% of patients urgently referred by their GP for suspected cancer to receive a diagnosis or have cancer ruled out within 28 days.

Stem Cells: Donors

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many people have made stem cell donations in each year since 2020.

Andrea Leadsom: The British Society for Blood & Marrow Transplantation and Cellular Therapy collects and publishes information on the number and type of stem cell transplants in the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland, with the latest published data being from 2021. In 2020, there were 3,566 stem cell transplants and in 2021 there were 4,279 stem cell transplants. These include stem cell transplants from donors related to the patient, donors unrelated to the patient and stem cell donations from cord blood.

Tobacco: Enforcement

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether she plans to introduce smoking wardens to enforce the generational ban on tobacco products.

Andrea Leadsom: Smoking is responsible for around 80,000 deaths a year in the United Kingdom and causes around one in four cancer deaths in the UK. It also costs our country £17 billion a year and puts a huge burden on the National Health Service.This is why the Government is planning to create a smokefree generation by bringing forward legislation so that children turning 14 years old or younger this year will never be legally sold tobacco products.The Government is providing an additional £30 million a year for enforcement agencies such as trading standards, Border Force and HM Revenue and Customs to implement and enforce the law. The Smokefree generation consultation also proposes to introduce new powers for local authorities to issue on-the-spot fines, otherwise known as fixed penalty notices.

Dental Services: Easington

Grahame Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 28 November 2023 to Question 2859 on Dental Services, what steps she is taking to increase access to NHS dental care provision for adults in Easington constituency.

Andrea Leadsom: In July 2022, we announced a package of reforms to improve access to National Health Service dentistry, which outlined the steps we are taking to meet oral health needs and increase access to dental care. NHS dental activity as measured by Courses of Treatments delivered has increased by 23% between 2021/22 and 2022/23 and 1.7 million more adults saw an NHS dentist in 2022/23 compared to the previous year, an increase of 10%.But we know we need to do more, including in some areas where access is particularly problematic. We are working on our Dentistry Recovery Plan which will be published shortly.From 1 April 2023, the responsibility for commissioning primary care dentistry to meet the needs of the local population has been delegated to all integrated care boards (ICBs) across England. The Northeast and North Cumbria ICB dental commissioning team, which covers Easington constituency, continues to work closely with local dental networks as well as with providers to explore all opportunities to increase capacity and improve access to local dental services. Local practices that have the capacity to deliver additional clinical sessions outside of their normal opening hours have access to additional funding to provide treatment to patients with urgent dental care needs, looked after children, and patients with complex high care needs.

General Practitioners: Medical Records

Luke Pollard: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what progress her Department has made on the roll out of the IT update allowing GPs to place a marker on the medical notes of people with firearms certificates.

Andrea Leadsom: A digital version of the firearms marker has been rolled out to all general practices in England as of May 2023.

Health: Screening

Catherine West: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to her Department's publication entitled Major conditions strategy: case for change and our strategic framework published on 14 August 2023, what plans her Department has to align NHS Health Checks with the six major health conditions listed.

Andrea Leadsom: A review of the NHS Health Check programme published in 2021 recommended that following delivery of a digital NHS Health Check, consideration should be given to expanding the NHS Health Check to cover other conditions such as musculoskeletal and mental ill-health. We are investing almost £17 million in the development of an innovative new national digital NHS Health Check and once this is rolled out from next spring, we will consider the coverage of the programme and the case for including menopause and conditions highlighted in the Major Conditions Strategy: case for change and our strategic framework.

Prescriptions: Pregnancy

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether she has made an estimate of the number of individuals in (a) Slough and (b) England that have been required to repay the value of a prescription as a result of them not having a valid maternity exemption certificate in each of the last five years.

Andrea Leadsom: The following table shows the number of people in Slough and England that have been required to repay the value of a prescription because of them not having a valid maternity exemption certificate in each of the last five years: YearNumber of people in SloughNumber of people in England201995188122020122424202103520227011595202313421935 Source: NHS Business Services Authority Notes:No Penalty Charge Notices were issued in 2021 because of a significant reduction in the service due to COVID-19.The data for Slough was obtained via postcode search.

Prescriptions: Pregnancy

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate she has made of the number of (a) maternity exemption certificates issued and (b) finesissued due to a person failing to pay for a prescription without a valid maternity exemption certificate in Slough in each of the last five years.

Andrea Leadsom: The following table shows the number of maternity exemption certificates issued between 2019 and 2023 to date in Slough as well as the number of fines issued due to a person failing to pay for a prescription without a valid maternity exemption certificate in Slough in the same period:YearNumber of certificates issuedFines issued2019453852420204133842021422402022436117420234689442Source: NHS Business Services AuthorityNotes:The data covers post codes in the Slough area.No Penalty Charge Notices were issued in this post code area in 2021 because of a significant reduction in the service due to COVID-19.

Dental Services: Veterans

Peter Gibson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if she will make an assessment of the adequacy of the level of access to NHS dentist appointments for veterans when they leave the armed forces.

Andrea Leadsom: In July 2022, we announced a package of improvements to the National Health Service dental system, detailed in Our plan for patients. This outlined how we will meet oral health needs and increase access to NHS dental care through several improvements to the 2006 contract. These changes were designed to improve access for all that need it, including veterans.A key principle of the Armed Forces Covenant is that the Armed Forces community experiences no disadvantage in accessing healthcare. The NHS takes its responsibilities under the Covenant very seriously.We are working on our Dentistry Recovery Plan which will address how we continue to improve access, particularly for new patients; and how we make NHS work more attractive to ensure NHS dentists are incentivised to deliver more NHS care.

Voluntary Scheme for Branded Medicines Pricing and Access

Karl McCartney: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the policy paper entitled 2024 voluntary scheme for branded medicines pricing, access and growth: summary of the heads of agreement, published on 20 November 2023, what steps her Department is taking to help ensure that people with less common conditions are not disproportionately impacted by additional rebates for older medicines.

Karl McCartney: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the policy paper entitled 2024 voluntary scheme for branded medicines pricing, access and growth: summary of the heads of agreement, published on 20 November 2023, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of these policies on people with less common conditions.

Andrew Stephenson: Commitments in the current voluntary scheme for branded medicines pricing and access around patient access and uptake for innovative medicines have had a substantial positive impact on the speed of medicines access in England, ensuring that National Health Service patients benefit from cutting-edge treatments including personalised CAR-T cancer therapies, lifechanging treatments for rare conditions, and lifesaving gene therapies. The new voluntary scheme for branded medicines pricing, access and growth agreement will continue to build on these significant achievements, for example, through the piloting of new approaches for paying for ground-breaking advanced therapy medicinal products.We do not expect disproportional impacts on people with less common conditions resulting from these policies. Provisions in the scheme allow for companies to apply for price increases should supply of products be otherwise uneconomical. Under specific circumstances an adjusted ‘Top-up Payment Percentage’ can also be considered for other older medicines where there would otherwise be a negative impact on patients.

Tobacco: Trading Standards

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether her Department plans to provide guidance to retailers on preventing proxy sales of tobacco products under proposals for a generational ban on the sale of those products.

Andrea Leadsom: Smoking is responsible for around 80,000 deaths a year in the United Kingdom and causes around one in four cancer deaths in the UK. It also costs our country £17 billion a year and puts a huge burden on the National Health Service.This is why the Government is planning to create a smokefree generation by bringing forward legislation so that children turning 14 years old or younger this year will never be legally sold tobacco products. The Government plans to provide guidance for retailers on the smokefree generation proposal before it begins to take effect on 1 January 2027.

Voluntary Scheme for Branded Medicines Pricing and Access

Karl McCartney: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the policy paper entitled 2024 voluntary scheme for branded medicines pricing, access and growth: summary of the heads of agreement, published on 20 November 2023, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of these policies on life science SMEs.

Andrew Stephenson: The Government’s Life Sciences Vision sets out our ambition to develop a globally competitive life sciences investment ecosystem in the United Kingdom. While no assessment has been made, the 2024 voluntary scheme for branded medicines pricing, access and growth includes several policies that will benefit innovative companies and drive innovation into the United Kingdom. This includes an exemption from payment for small companies with under £6m of sales to the National Health Service and a taper for medium sized companies with between £6 million and £30 million of sales.

Brain Cancer: Research

Siobhain McDonagh: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, who is eligible to apply to the Government's £40 million fund for brain cancer research; and how they do so.

Andrew Stephenson: All National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) programmes including those for brain cancer research are open to research applications from individual researchers, academic institutions, local authorities, industry, charities, and social care organisations. Details of how to apply are available and updated on the NIHR website. This includes details of all responsive calls where researchers are invited to propose topics for research, and of commissioned calls on specified topics. It also includes any specific eligibility criteria for research programmes and calls, and details of how to obtain help and support in applying for funding, and details to enable contact with individual funding programmes, in case of questions about eligibility or other issues in applying. Information about funding and how to apply is available at the following link:https://www.nihr.ac.uk/researchers/i-need-help-funding-my-research/The NIHR welcome applications for research into any aspect of human health, including brain tumour research. All applications are assessed for funding by peer review committees. The level of research spend in a particular area is driven by factors including the quality of the proposals and their scientific potential. All applications for brain cancer research made through open competition have been funded.

Cancer: Clinical Trials

Nadia Whittome: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether her Department is taking steps to help (a) increase the number of (i) children and (ii) young adults who are recruited to and (b) the development of medical trials for young people with cancer.

Andrew Stephenson: The Department-funded National Institute of Health and Care Research (NIHR) funds research and research infrastructure which supports patients and the public participate in high-quality research. Between 2018/19 and 2021/22, NIHR provided £35.2 million in funding for childhood cancer, equating to 7.8% of total cancer spend. Through the NIHR Clinical Research Network, NIHR supported the opening of 94 children’s cancer studies between 2018 and 2022, and the recruitment of 5,356 participants. Since 2012, NIHR has funded a network of Paediatric Experimental Cancer Medicine Centres, dedicated to early-phase research on childhood cancers. This has enabled the development of a robust national trial network with international recognition. In addition, NIHR provides an online service called 'Be Part of Research' which promotes participation in health and social care research by allowing users to search for relevant studies and register their interest. This makes it easier for people to find and take part in health and care research that is relevant to them.

Tobacco: Trading Standards

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if she will make an assessment of the potential impact of the proposed generational ban on the sale of tobacco products on trading standards.

Andrea Leadsom: Smoking is responsible for around 80,000 deaths a year in the United Kingdom and causes around one in four cancer deaths in the UK. It also costs our country £17 billion a year and puts a huge burden on the National Health Service.This is why the Government is planning to create a smokefree generation by bringing forward legislation so that children turning 14 years old or younger this year will never be legally sold tobacco products.The Government is providing an additional £30 million a year for enforcement agencies such as trading standards, Border Force and HM Revenue and Customs to implement and enforce the law. The Smokefree generation consultation also proposes to introduce new powers for local authorities to issue on-the-spot fines, otherwise known as fixed penalty notices.We will publish our Impact Assessment in due course.

Nurses: Vetting

Alexander Stafford: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if she will make an assessment of the impact of requiring nurses to be DBS-checked on patient safety.

Andrew Stephenson: Nurses are in Regulated Activity and are required by law to have an enhanced check with adults and/or children’s barred list information, where applicable to the role. For eligible positions, Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) checks are one of several background checks that employers must carry out to ensure individuals working in the National Health Service are suitable and safe to carry out the roles they are appointed to do and to protect patient safety.

Arthritis: Diagnosis

Sammy Wilson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps her Department is taking to help increase rates of early arthritis diagnosis.

Sammy Wilson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence's webpage entitled Diagnosis and referral of inflammatory arthritis, what steps her Department is taking to increase the number of people with suspected inflammatory arthritis who receive referral to rheumatology services within three working days.

Sammy Wilson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 19 July 2023 to Question 193651 on Arthritis: Mental Health, if he will make an assessment of the potential impact of waiting times for elective care on the mental health of people with arthritis.

Andrew Stephenson: NHS England is working to ensure and improve early diagnosis of people with arthritis, as well as treatment and care in England, through the Getting it Right First Time rheumatology programme. The programme published a national report on rheumatology in 2021, which makes a series of recommendations to support equitable and consistent access to diagnostic tests. Additionally, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) has produced a range of guidance to support early diagnosis of conditions including rheumatoid arthritis and osteoarthritis.NICE’s quality standard on rheumatoid arthritis in people aged 16 years old or over [QS33] states that adults with suspected persistent joint inflammation, known as synovitis, in more than one joint, or the small joints of the hands and feet, should be referred to rheumatology services within three working days of presenting in primary care.Quality standards are important in setting out to patients, the public, commissioners, and providers what a high-quality service should look like in a particular area of care. Whilst providers and commissioners must have regard to NICE quality standards in planning and delivering services, they do not provide a comprehensive service specification and are not mandatory.The Department has not made any assessment of the impact of waiting times for elective care on the mental health of people with arthritis. Cutting waiting lists is one of the Government’s top priorities. We are making good progress on tackling the longest waits, to ensure patients get the care they need when they need it.To support the health of people with arthritis while they are waiting for elective treatment, NHS England has worked with Versus Arthritis on their Joint Replacement Support Package, which makes the case for local health systems, working with local communities and the voluntary sector, to deliver a support package to help to meet the needs of people with arthritis who are on surgery waiting lists. This includes mental health support to help people to manage their pain and any associated depression and anxiety.More generally, we have made it clear to local commissioners that we expect NHS talking therapies to be integrated into physical healthcare pathways. Our NHS Long Term Plan commits to an additional £2.3 billion a year for the expansion of mental health services by 2024, so that an additional two million people can access National Health Service-funded mental health support.

NHS: Drugs

Emma Hardy: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the Answer of 31 July to Question HL9573 in the House of Lords on NHS: Drugs, what assessment the has made of the adequacy of the (a) complaints system, (b) performance and (c) safety of homecare medicines services.

Andrew Stephenson: While no assessment has been made by the Department, the House of Lords Public Services Select Committee published its report on Homecare Medicines Services on 16 November 2023. NHS England has also been carrying out a desktop exercise to review homecare medicines services. The next steps are to bring together data from the desktop exercise with the House of Lords inquiry report recommendations to shape a programme of work on homecare medicines. The Department is carefully considering all the conclusions and recommendations made in the report and will respond in due course.

NHS: Standards

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, who is responsible for continuous process improvement in (a) NHS England, (b) Integrated Health and Care Boards and (c) NHS Hospital Trusts.

Andrew Stephenson: In April 2023, NHS England published their delivery and continuous improvement review. Through the review, NHS England set an expectation that all National Health Service providers, working in partnership with their integrated care boards, will embed a quality improvement method aligned with the improvement approach to support increased productivity and enable improved health outcomes.

Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder: Drugs

Daisy Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps her Department is taking to tackle shortages of (a) methylphenidate, (b) lisdexamfetamine and (c) guanfacine.

Andrew Stephenson: Disruptions to the supply of medicines used for the management of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) have been primarily driven by issues which have resulted in capacity constraints at key manufacturing sites. The Department has been working closely with the respective manufacturers and some issues have now been resolved. However, we know that there continue to be disruptions to the supply of some other medicines, which should resolve by April 2024.We understand how frustrating and distressing medicine shortages can be and we want to assure patients that we are working with the respective manufacturers to resolve the issues with ADHD medicine supply in the United Kingdom as soon as possible and to help ensure patients are able to access these medicines, including methylphenidate, lisdexamfetamine, and guanfacine in the short and long term.We have issued communications to the National Health Service to advise healthcare professionals on management of patients whilst there continue to be disruptions to supplies. Patients are advised to speak to their clinician regarding any concerns they have and to discuss the suitability of treatment with alternative medicines.

Liver Diseases: Screening

Wayne David: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of expanding the FibroScan rollout to community diagnostic centres in areas with high prevalence of liver disease.

Andrew Stephenson: There are currently plans for 12 community diagnostic centres (CDCs) to offer FibroScan testing, of which five are currently operational. A further seven CDCs plan to offer this service by the end of March 2024.The CDC modality offer is based on the recommendations in the Sir Mike Richards Review, and decisions on what modalities are offered outside of the core requirements of CDCs will be based on local need and decisions. The Government is working with the National Health Service to deliver and consider the result from the pilot of the community liver health check programme, which in its first year delivered over 17,000 FibroScans to individuals at particular risk of cirrhosis or advanced fibrosis, using 40 FibroScanners, across 19 local areas.

Allergies

Andy Slaughter: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent progress the Clinical Reference Group for allergies has made.

Andrew Stephenson: NHS England’s Clinical Reference Group (CRG) provides clinical advice and leadership for both Specialised Immunology and Specialised Allergy services.The CRG advises NHS England on the optimal arrangements for the commissioning of specialised services. This includes developing national standards in the form of service specifications and policies. The CRG commenced a review of the current published Specialist Allergy Service Specification in May 2023, which is expected to be complete by summer 2024. The outcome of the service specification review will be an updated specification which references up to date guidance and takes into account the latest evidence base to clearly define the standards of care for commissioned specialised services.

Domestic Accidents: Older People

Karin Smyth: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many hospital admissions for patients aged 65 and over were the result of a fall in each of the last five years.

Helen Whately: The following table shows data on hospital admissions for fall incidents involving people aged 65 years old and over in the past five years:YearCount2022/2023348,7532021/2022358,3762020/2021342,2732019/2020369,5062018/2019353,266Source: Hospital Admitted Patient Care Activity, NHS Digital

Natural Gas and Oil: Public Health

Kim Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether her Department has made an assessment of the potential impact on public health of expanding UK oil and gas fields.

Maria Caulfield: The UK Health Security Agency has not conducted a specific assessment concerning the potential impact on public health of expanding oil and gas fields in the United Kingdom.

Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder: Men

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps she is taking to put in place specialist services to help tackle changes in the level of ADHD diagnoses of (a) men and (b) boys.

Maria Caulfield: We expect integrated care boards (ICBs) and National Health Service trusts to have due regard to relevant National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guidelines on attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) when commissioning and providing services for people. It is the responsibility of ICBs to make available appropriate provision to meet the health and care needs of their local population, in line with these NICE guidelines.We are taking steps to improve data on ADHD which will be important in determining where further action may need to be taken to support people, including men and boys. Assessments, diagnosis, and the provision of support for people with ADHD are carried out in various care settings. Data on the number of people waiting for an ADHD diagnosis and how long they have been waiting is not currently collected nationally but may be held locally by NHS trusts or ICBs. We are exploring options for improving data collection and reporting on ADHD assessment waiting times. In line with this, the National Institute for Health and Care Research has recently commissioned a research project to provide initial insights into local ADHD diagnosis waiting times data collection.NHS England is also currently scoping a national programme of work on ADHD.

Autism: Children

Mr Laurence Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if she will make an estimate of the number of school-age children who have been waiting for an autism diagnosis for longer than six months; and if she will make an assessment with the Secretary of State for Education of the potential impact of delays in autism diagnoses on secondary school examinations.

Maria Caulfield: Data on the number of school-age children who have been waiting for an autism diagnosis for longer than six months is not held centrally. The autism assessment waiting times data published on 14 September 2023 showed that the number of people aged between zero and 17 years old with an open referral for suspected autism was 84,054 in June 2023. The data also showed that, in June 2023, 6.7% of patients, or 4,581, aged between zero and 17 years old with an open suspected autism referral in the month, that has been open for at least 13 weeks, received a first appointment in 13 weeks or less. Data on the number of children and young people in this dataset is expected to be an underestimate. The subsequent waiting times publication is 14 December 2023.Whilst we have no plans to make an assessment on the potential impact of delays in autism diagnoses on examinations in secondary schools, we recognise the importance of early identification of neurodiverse conditions, such as autism, so that an individual’s needs can be identified sooner, and support put in place earlier in life, including the support that autistic children should receive.The Department of Health and Social Care is working closely with the Department for Education to ensure that children and young people with special educational needs and disability (SEND), including autistic children, receive the right support, in the right place, at the right time. We are doing this through working together to implement the SEND and Alternative Provision Improvement Plan, which was published on 2 March 2023.On 22 November 2023, we announced the Partnerships for Inclusion of Neurodiversity in Schools programme. This new programme, backed by £13 million of investment, is a partnership between the Department of Health and Social Care, the Department for Education and NHS England, and will bring together integrated care boards (ICBs), local authorities, and schools, working in partnership with parents and carers to support schools to better meet the needs of neurodiverse children, including autistic children and those who are undiagnosed or awaiting an assessment.In relation to examinations, access arrangements can be agreed with exam boards for candidates with specific needs, including special educational needs and disabilities, to help them access assessments to show what they know and can do without affecting the integrity of the assessment.

Barking Community Hospital: Childbirth

Dame Margaret Hodge: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many live births have been recorded at the Barking Birth Centre in each month since it first opened.

Maria Caulfield: The information requested is shown in the attached table and covers the period since December 2012 up to its closure in June 2023.Number of births recorded  (docx, 20.9KB)

Barking Community Hospital: Childbirth

Dame Margaret Hodge: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many live births there were in the Barking Birth Centre in each (a) calendar month and (b) week between January and November 2023.

Maria Caulfield: The Department does not hold the information in the format requested. The following table shows the average number of births per week in Barking Birth Centre between January 2023 to June 2023, as the centre closed for live births from that date: Month and yearAverage number of births per weekJan-231.75Feb-231.25Mar-231.5Apr-232.5May-231.75Jun-23N/A

Suicide: Internet

Mr David Davis: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what discussions his Department has had with Cloudflare on removing the website linked to deaths by suicide reported on by the BBC on 24 October 2023.

Maria Caulfield: Ministerial meetings are routinely published on gov.uk. We recognise the role of internet service providers in protecting people online. We are working with a range of organisations across the suicide prevention sector, and more widely, on this issue in order to enable better protection for individuals.On 11 September, we published a new national suicide prevention strategy for England, with more than 100 actions to support our aim to reduce the suicide rate within two and a half years. This includes action across government and other organisations to tackle pro-suicide forums.

Telemedicine

Karin Smyth: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many people have been supported by hospital at home beds in each of the last 12 months.

Helen Whately: The information requested is not collected centrally. NHS England publishes data on the capacity and occupancy rate of virtual wards, which is available at the following link:https://www.england.nhs.uk/statistics/statistical-work-areas/virtual-ward/

Department for Culture, Media and Sport

Culture: North West

Lilian Greenwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of funding provided by Arts Council England for cultural activities in the North West.

Sir John Whittingdale: His Majesty’s Government is deeply committed to supporting access to high-quality arts and culture across the country, including through public funding to organisations in the North West of England via Arts Council England.Through Arts Council England’s 2023–26 National Portfolio, public funding is being provided to 120 organisations (up from 97 in the 2018–22 portfolio) in the North West across theatre, dance, museums, visual arts, literature and libraries.The total investment in the North West through the national portfolio is currently £49.7 million per year – an increase of more than £7.5 million per year compared to the last portfolio.Between 2020/21 and 2023/24, Arts Council England will have invested over £428 million in arts and cultural organisations in the North West of England. This includes £13,651,486 of public funding through the Government’s Cultural Development Fund, Libraries Improvement Fund and Museum Estate and Development Fund, administered by Arts Council England. Arts and cultural organisations in the North West of England also benefited from over £120 million through the Culture Recovery Fund during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Culture: South East

Lilian Greenwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of funding provided by Arts Council England for cultural activities in the South East.

Sir John Whittingdale: His Majesty’s Government is deeply committed to supporting access to high-quality arts and culture across the country, including through public funding to organisations in the South East of England via Arts Council England.Through Arts Council England’s 2023–26 National Portfolio, public funding is being provided to 139 organisations (an increase from 105 in the 2018–22 portfolio) in the South East of England across theatre, dance, museums, visual arts, literature and libraries. The total investment in the South East through the national portfolio is £45.6 million per year – an increase of over £5 million per year from the last portfolio.Between 2020/21 and 2023/24, Arts Council England will have invested over £360 million of public money in arts and cultural organisations in the South East of England. This includes £12,439,377 through the Government’s Cultural Development Fund, Libraries Improvement Fund, and Museum Estate and Development Fund, administered by Arts Council England. Arts and cultural organisations in the South East also benefited from over £106 million through the Culture Recovery Fund during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Schools: Transport

Lilian Greenwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether she has had discussions with the Secretary of State for Education on the potential merits of supporting schools with transport costs to theatre productions.

Sir John Whittingdale: The Secretary of State has regular conversations with the Secretary of State for Education on a number of issues, including on improving access to the arts for school pupils.In March 2022, the Department for Education updated its pupil premium guidance and recovery premium guidance to make it clear that schools may use these funding streams to fund extracurricular activities, including school trips. Many theatres also offer subsidised travel in a bespoke or targeted manner through their work with community groups and targeted to specific groups. For example, the Lyric Hammersmith regularly offers to fund the cost of transport to enable local schools to visit, and its ‘free panto tickets’ for schools programme has been successfully running for many years.The Department for Culture, Media and Sport is also working with the Department for Education to publish a Cultural Education Plan, as committed to in the Schools White Paper. This aims to improve access to cultural education for all children and young people in England. The development of the plan is supported by an expert advisory panel, chaired by Baroness Bull, which includes advising on routes to tackle disparities in opportunity and outcomes in cultural education.

Department for Culture, Media and Sport: ICT

Matt Rodda: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, with reference to the Guidance on the Legacy IT Risk Assessment Framework, published by the Central Digital and Data Office on 29 September 2023, how many red-rated IT systems are used by arms length bodies for which her Department has responsibility.

Sir John Whittingdale: The information held about Red Rated Systems is sensitive as it highlights potential security weaknesses within a department's IT estate.

Department for Culture, Media and Sport: Recruitment

Jonathan Ashworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, how much her Department spent on external recruitment consultants in the (a) 2020-21, (b) 2021-22 and (c) 2022-23 financial year.

Sir John Whittingdale: The figures for financial years 2020-21 and 2021-22 have previously been provided in PQ 137042. The figure for 2022-23 has been updated to reflect the spend across the full financial year.Financial YearSpend (Ex VAT)2020/2021£116,358.672021/2022£61,824.442022/2023£64,731.76Total£242,914.87 External recruitment agencies and search firms are an important resource which support the Civil Service's ability to recruit - to find talented people, in the right places, with the right capabilities to deliver for the people of the United Kingdom. The Civil Service has developed a number of commercial frameworks which provide transparency, high quality services and value for money.

Frontier Economics: Contracts

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, with reference to the contract awarded by her Department to Frontier Economics on 16 November 2023 under procurement reference 103726, if she will publish the specification of requirements in that contract.

Sir John Whittingdale: The invitation to tender (ITT) in relation to procurement reference 103726 has been published on Contracts Finder.

Music: Recording Studios

Barbara Keeley: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether her Department holds data on the number of music recording studios that have closed in the last 10 years.

Barbara Keeley: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, if her Department will take steps to publish an update to the report entitled Music Studio Market Assessment, published on 3 August 2021.

Barbara Keeley: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether she has had recent discussions with Arts Council England on the finances of music organisations.

Sir John Whittingdale: We do not hold data on the number of music recording studios that have closed in the last 10 years.In August 2021, DCMS commissioned the consultancy firm, Sound Diplomacy, to assess the state of the music studio market in England.Whilst the assessment found challenges, it showed the market is responding to changes, such as technological innovation, is maintaining or growing sources of income and has a healthy supply of music studios.The Government does not currently have plans to publish an update report to the Music Studio Market Assessment.The Department for Culture, Media and Sport has regular conversations with Arts Council England (ACE) on a range of issues, including financial support for music organisations.

Arts: Artificial Intelligence

Lilian Greenwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether she has had discussions with representatives of the art sector on the potential impact of AI on that sector.

Sir John Whittingdale: HM Government recognises the opportunities presented by artificial intelligence to a range of sectors, including the arts. As set out in the Government’s recent AI White Paper, our goal is to ensure that the UK becomes an AI superpower. It is important, however, that while we harness the benefits of AI, we also manage the risks. This includes risks to the creative and cultural sectors and to copyright-holders.The Secretary of State and Ministers have held a number of meetings with people and organisations from across the creative and cultural sectors on this issue and on AI more broadly. This includes a meeting in which the Minister for Arts & Heritage, Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay participated, hosted by What Next? in November, during which representatives from small and large arts organisations, freelance creative professionals, academics and other participants from across the country discussed the potential impact of AI on the arts and creative sectors.DCMS has engaged with the arts and creative sectors to identify areas where AI is being applied through innovation and to understand the sectors’ views – for instance, through a recent meeting held jointly with the Intellectual Property Office and a group of leading sector chief executives.Last month, the UK also hosted the world's first major summit on AI safety. This summit focused on the risks created or significantly exacerbated by the most powerful frontier AI systems, and looked to ensure that this technology is developed and adopted safely and responsibly. The summit brought together the governments of leading AI nations, technology companies, researchers, and civil society groups. DCMS Ministers and officials also attended the industry-led AI Fringe, which ran alongside the AI Safety Summit, and engaged with representatives from across the creative industries on issues such as research and development for AI in the arts and intellectual property.

Ministry of Justice

HM Courts and Tribunals Service: ICT

Matt Rodda: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to the Central Digital & Data Office's guidance entitled, Guidance on the Legacy IT Risk Assessment Framework, published 29 September 2023, how many red-rated IT systems are used by HM Courts and Tribunals Service as of 6 December 2023.

Mike Freer: Based on the latest assessment using Central Digital & Data Office’s guidance, as at October 2022 HMCTS had 9 red-rated IT systems.

Prisons: Surveys

Ruth Cadbury: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many and what proportion of prison estate surveys were completed in (a) 2022 and (b) 2023.

Edward Argar: Fieldwork for the surveys was completed at 43 prison sites (38% of the total) in 2022, with quality-assured reports delivered for 17 sites (15%). Fieldwork at a further 71 sites (62%) has been carried out during 2023, with 79 (69%) final reports delivered so far. The 18 (16%) outstanding final reports are due by the end of December.

Ministry of Justice: ICT

Matt Rodda: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 4 December 2023 to Question 3664 on Ministry of Justice: ICT, if he will publish details of the red-rated IT systems referenced in the answer.

Mike Freer: The details on the red-rated IT systems will not be published due to security reasons. This is because the information held about Red Rated Systems is sensitive as it highlights potential security weaknesses within a department's IT estate.As such, we will be withholding the information.

Death: Registration

Mrs Emma Lewell-Buck: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to the oral contribution of the Minister of State for Justice during the debate on the Victims and Prisoners Bill of 4 December 2023, Official Report, column 138, when his Department plans to start a public consultation.

Mike Freer: The Government is committed to ensuring that the bereaved remain at the heart of the inquest process. We are therefore entirely sympathetic to the Hon Member’s campaign to establish a role for the bereaved in the registration of their loved one’s death following an inquest. However, this is a sensitive and complex issue, and it is important that we identify the most appropriate solution, particularly in light of the provisions contained within the Data Protection and Digital Information Bill and the move towards an electronic register. To support consideration of that solution, we will as the Minister of State for Justice, the Rt Hon Edward Argar MP, announced on 4 December (Hansard, column 138), be undertaking a full public consultation to gather the widest possible range of views. We aim to launch this consultation as soon as practicable in 2024.

Young Offender Institutions: Violence

Janet Daby: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what discussions he has had with experts in (a) education, (b) youth work and (c) social work on helping to reduce levels of violence in the youth secure estate.

Edward Argar: Youth Custody Service (YCS) officials routinely work with external partners across education, healthcare and social work fields, including with NHS England, contracted education providers and local authority youth offending services to tackle key issues, such as violence, in youth custody. We are open to seeking expert input from other organisations where there is learning that could improve time in custody for the children in our care. The YCS is currently establishing a board which will bring together YCS senior leaders and external stakeholders with an interest in youth justice to inform strategic priorities and problem-solving for youth custody.

Young Offender Institutions: Children

Janet Daby: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of levels of safety of children in the youth secure estate.

Janet Daby: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many safeguarding referrals have been made from each (a) young offender institution and (b) secure training centre in the last 12 months.

Edward Argar: The safety and well-being of the young people in our care is paramount. I am clear that levels of violence amongst the challenging cohort in our youth secure estate are too high and we are taking strong action to improve safety. All Youth Custody Service establishments have a safety strategy to address their specific local risks of violence, and conflict resolution practitioners work to resolve conflict where it occurs between individuals or groups. Staff receive specialist training to provide specialised support to young people. They are equipped with body worn video cameras to protect themselves and record vital evidence when an incident occurs. A safeguarding referral will be made where there is any concern about the wellbeing of a child in our custody. The number of recorded safeguarding referrals for each Young Offender Institution (YOI) and Secure Training Centre (STC) is in the table below.YOIs Cookham Wood 108Feltham 134Parc 79Werrington 135Wetherby 276YOI Total 732STC Oakhill 162Grand Total 894

Young Offender Institutions: Inspections

Janet Daby: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will list the (a) most recent inspection outcome for each institution in the secure estate and (b) the last date on which each institution in the secure estate was last classified as good.

Janet Daby: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many education settings in the youth secure estate were rated as good on 5 December 2023.

Edward Argar: HM Inspectorate of Prisons (HMIP) are the primary inspectorate responsible for inspecting Young Offender Institutions (YOIs) in England and Wales. Ofsted are the primary inspectorate responsible for assessing Oakhill Secure Training Centre, supported by HMIP and Secure Children’s Homes in England. Ofsted also inspect education delivery at the YOIs in England. The Care Quality Commission (CQC) inspect healthcare across all English settings. Care Inspectorate Wales (CiW) are the primary inspectorate responsible for assessing Hillside Secure Children’s Home, with Estyn inspecting their education delivery. Additionally, Estyn inspect the education delivery at Parc YOI. The outcomes of these inspections are published on their respective websites:HMIPOfstedCare Inspectorate Wales

Department for Education

GCE A-level and GCSE

Dr Matthew Offord: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will make an estimate of the number and proportion of children who were given special arrangements to sit (a) GCSE and (b) A Level examinations in each of the last three years in England.

Damian Hinds: This is a matter for Ofqual, the Office of Qualifications and Examinations Regulation. I have asked its Chief Regulator, Dr Jo Saxton, to write to the hon. Member for Hendon, and a copy of her reply will be placed in the Libraries of both Houses.

Special Educational Needs: Primary Education

Dr Matthew Offord: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department holds information on the economic status of families of children who have special learning requirements in primary schools.

David Johnston: The department does not hold information on the economic status of families of children who have special learning requirements in primary schools.

Question

Henry Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to screen pupils for special educational needs and disabilities in primary schools.

David Johnston: Early identification of needs is critical to improving outcomes for children and young people with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) and the department understands that early intervention can reduce the impact that a Special Educational Need (SEN) or disability may have in the long term.The SEND Code of Practice is clear that meeting the needs of a child with SEN does not require a diagnostic label or test. Instead, the department expects teachers to monitor the progress of all children and young people and provide support where it is needed, including arranging diagnostic tests where appropriate.To support all teachers in meeting these expectations, the department is implementing teacher training reforms. These reforms are designed to ensure that teachers have the skills to support all pupils to succeed, including those with SEND. Since 2020, the Initial Teacher Training Core Content Framework (CCF) has included content on adapting teaching to the strengths and needs of all pupils. The department is conducting a review of the CCF and Early Career Framework, which will consider further opportunities to improve how the frameworks support new teachers to meet the needs of pupils with SEND.The department’s Universal Services (US) contract brings together SEND-specific continuous professional development and support for the teaching workforce to improve outcomes for children and young people. This includes autism awareness training and resources. Over 100,000 professionals have undertaken autism awareness training since the US programme launched.The department has also committed to funding training for up to 7,000 early years staff to gain an accredited Level 3 early years SENCO qualification.

Special Educational Needs: Standards

Mohammad Yasin: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how she plans to measure the effectiveness of the SEND change programme.

David Johnston: In March 2023, the Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) and Alternative Provision (AP) Improvement Plan committed to testing a suite of SEND and AP policy proposals. The Change Programme is a vehicle for testing these proposals. Since the Change Programme launched in September 2023, the department has been working with the Change Programme authorities, including Bedford which is the lead local authority for the East of England Change Programme Partnership (CPP). The effectiveness of the Change Programme will be measured through a formal independent evaluation for which the department has appointed an independent evaluator to conduct a process and implementation evaluation of the SEND and AP Change Programme as a whole. The evaluation will help the department understand which elements of the change programme are working well or less well and help shape suitable recommendations for improving ongoing delivery and future policy and practice. As the Change Programme partnerships test the reforms they will feedback as to what is and is not working. This feedback loop, led by the department and the change programme delivery partner, REACh, will not only help understand effectiveness but will also allow the department to share any early insights into the effectivity of reforms more widely. Feedback is received through the department’s frequent meetings with REACh.

Teachers: Training

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of ensuring that all (a) teaching staff and (b) school leaders undertake annual mandatory training on supporting children with (i) autism, (ii) ADHD and (iii) mental health challenges.

David Johnston: The Teachers’ Standards set clear expectations that teachers must understand the needs of all pupils, including those with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) and mental health needs. To identify opportunities to build teacher expertise, the department is undertaking a review of the Initial Teacher Training Core Content Framework and Early Career Framework. The review, due to publish in early 2024, has an aim to support trainees and Early Career Teachers to be more confident in meeting the needs of children and young people with SEND, through engaging with the most up to date evidence to inform their practice and applying this in the contexts in which they work as new teachers. To support teachers and leaders at any stage in their career, the department’s Universal Services programme, backed by almost £12 million, provides SEND-specific training for education professionals, with over 100,000 professionals undertaking autism awareness training since 2022. To promote excellent leadership, the department has a range of leadership-level National Professional Qualifications, for Senior Leadership (NPQSL), Headship (NPQH), and Executive Leadership (NPQEL), to support leaders to develop the knowledge that enables all pupils to succeed, including designing and implementing fair and inclusive policies, making reasonable adjustments and promoting best practice on supporting pupils with SEND. The department is enabling schools to better support children with their mental health by offering funding for all schools and colleges to train a senior mental health lead by 2025. This is a strategic leadership role, responsible for overseeing an effective, whole-school approach to mental health and wellbeing. As of August 2023, 14,400 schools and colleges have claimed a senior mental health lead training grant, including more than 7 in 10 state-funded secondary schools.

Special Educational Needs: County Durham

Grahame Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what the average waiting time is for an Education, Health and Care plan to be completed following a Special Educational Needs and Disability referral in County Durham.

David Johnston: Data on the number of Education, Health and Care (EHC) Plans is available at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/education-health-and-care-plans. The latest data was published on 8 June 2023. This includes the number of EHC Plans that were issued within a 20-week timeframe in County Durham. The department will continue to work with County Durham to monitor the issuing of completed Plans.

Foreign Nationals: Secondary Education

Dr Matthew Offord: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate her Department has made of the annual cost of educating a non-English speaking child in secondary schools.

Damian Hinds: Schools have autonomy over how they use their budgets, as they are best placed to assess the needs of their pupils who have English as an additional language (EAL), as well as the type of support they need. Pupils with EAL, and who have started in the state-funded school system in England within the last three years, attract additional funding to their school through the EAL factor in the schools National Funding Formula (NFF). In the 2024/25 financial year, 1.1% (£484 million) of the total funding in the NFF will be allocated through the EAL factor (for both primary and secondary pupils). For secondary school pupils specifically, total EAL funding for 2024/25 is £141 million, with the EAL factor set at £1,585 per eligible secondary pupil.

Special Educational Needs: Finance

Dr Matthew Offord: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent estimate her Department has made of the number of children who have (a) received a Statement of Special Education Needs and (b) do not have access to the necessary funding to support those needs.

David Johnston: There were 517,049 children and young people with an Education, Health and Care (EHC) plan in England at January 2023. EHC plans replaced statements of Special Educational Needs following the introduction of Special Educational Needs and Disability provisions in the Children and Families Act 2014 on 1 September 2014. Local authorities are responsible for securing the special educational provision specified in the EHC plans they maintain. Children and young people with an EHC plan are supported and funded from local authorities’ high needs budgets. High needs funding is increasing to over £10.5 billion next year (2024/25), which is an increase of over 60% from the 2019/20 allocations. This funding will help local authorities, schools and colleges with the costs of supporting children and young people with EHC plans.

Religion: Primary Education

Sir Peter Bottomley: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will make an assessment of the adequacy of levels of confidence among primary school teachers in teaching religious education.

Sir Peter Bottomley: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department has made a recent assessment of regional variations in levels of supply and demand for religious education teachers in secondary schools.

Sir Peter Bottomley: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department (a) is taking and (b) plans to take steps to increase the number and proportion of teachers trained in religious education teaching.

Damian Hinds: One of our top priorities is to ensure that the department continues to attract, retain and develop the highly skilled teachers we need to inspire the next generation. There are now over 468,000 full time equivalent (FTE) teachers in state-funded schools in England, which is an increase of 27,000 (6%) since 2010. This makes it the highest FTE of teachers since the School Workforce Census began in 2010.The department understands there is further to go to improve recruitment in some subjects. That is why the department has put in place bursaries worth £10,000 tax-free to encourage talented trainee teachers to teach Religious Education (RE).The 2023/24 pay award means that teachers and leaders in maintained schools received the highest pay award in over thirty years and it delivers our manifesto commitment of at least a £30,000 starting salary for school teachers in all regions of the country in all subjects, including RE.RE is an essential part of a school’s curriculum and remains a compulsory subject in all state-funded schools, including academies, to all pupils up to the age of 18.Whilst no detailed assessment of primary teacher’s confidence in teaching RE has taken place, it is right that teachers feel confident in delivering the content for this subject. To ensure high standards and confidence in RE teaching, RE resources are being procured by Oak National Academy as part of the second tranche of its work. Oak will work closely with the sector and utilise sector experience when producing new materials for RE. This will ensure that high quality lessons are available nationwide, benefitting both teachers and pupils. These resources will begin to be available from Autumn 2024 and be fully available by September 2025Data on numbers of qualified RE teachers are available on a national scale only. Using the Teacher Workforce Census there were 15,721 RE teachers in state-funded secondary schools nationally in 2022/23, which represents an increase from 15,529 in 2021/22 (up 192 teachers or 1.2%).

Special Educational Needs: Schools

Grahame Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will make an assessment of the adequacy of the (a) capacity of and (b) resources available to schools to support SEND students.

David Johnston: Local authorities are responsible for providing enough school places for children in their area.The department supports local authorities to provide sufficient school places through capital funding, and the department has published over £1.5 billion of High Needs Provision Capital Allocations for the 2022/23 and 2023/24 financial years. This funding is allocated to local authorities to support them to deliver new places and improve existing provision for children and young people with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) or who require Alternative Provision (AP). This funding forms part of our transformational investment of £2.6 billion in new high needs provision between 2022 and 2025 and is on top of our ongoing delivery of new special and AP free schools.The department has begun collecting data from local authorities on available capacity in special schools, SEND units and resourced provision, along with corresponding forecasts of demand for these places. This data will help the department to effectively support local authorities to fulfil their statutory duty to provide sufficient specialist places. Including the additional funding from the teachers’ pay additional grant, funding for the ongoing costs of mainstream schools and high needs funding for children and young people with complex SEND is over £1.8 billion higher in 2024/25, compared to 2023/24. The total school’s revenue budget will be £59.6 billion in 2024/25 which is a record level in real terms per pupil.Within this total, high needs funding is increasing to over £10.5 billion next year which is an increase of over 60% from the 2019/20 allocations.This funding will help local authorities and schools with the costs of supporting children and young people with SEND.

Housing: Students

Mr Nicholas Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of creating a national register of student accommodation.

Robert Halfon: Student accommodation is a busy part of the housing market. As universities and landlords are private, autonomous bodies, the government has no role in the provision of student accommodation, nor a remit to intervene in how it is allocated.The department has no plans to create a register of student accommodation. Applicants who require student accommodation should take its availability into account when making decisions about where to study. The department expects universities and private landlords to review their accommodation policies to ensure they are fair, clear, and promote the interests of students.

Education: Rural Areas

Sir Greg Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent assessment she has made of the adequacy of funding available to education authorities covering largely rural areas.

Damian Hinds: The schools national funding formula accounts for the challenges faced by small schools in rural areas through the ‘sparsity’ factor. This recognises that some schools are necessarily small because they are remote and do not have the same opportunities to grow or make efficiency savings as other schools, and that such schools often play a significant role in the rural communities they serve. Given the importance of local schools to rural communities, the government has made changes to the sparsity factor, including reforms which mean that more schools are now eligible for this funding. Following these reforms, the total funding allocated through the sparsity factor has increased from £42 million in the 2021/22 financial year to £98 million in the 2024/25 financial year.

Cabinet Office

Cabinet Office: Recruitment

Jonathan Ashworth: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how much his Department spent on external recruitment consultants in each of the financial years (a) 2020-21, (b) 2021-22, and (c) 2022-23.

Alex Burghart: The Cabinet Office has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Prime Minister: Recruitment

Jonathan Ashworth: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how much the Prime Minister's Office spent on external recruitment consultants in each of the financial years (a) 2020-21, (b) 2021-22, and (c) 2022-23.

Alex Burghart: The Cabinet Office has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Overseas Trade: St Kitts and Nevis

Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what the value of bilateral trade with St Kitts and Nevis was in (a) 2021 and (b) 2022.

John Glen: The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority. A response to the Hon gentleman’s Parliamentary Question of 6th December is attached. UK Statistics Authority  (pdf, 111.2KB)

Emigration

Stuart C McDonald: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what recent estimate he has made of the number of British citizens leaving the UK each year to join spouses and partners.

John Glen: The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority. A response to the Hon gentleman’s Parliamentary Question of 5 December is attached. UK Statistics Authority  (pdf, 112.6KB)

Government Departments: Cybercrime

Mr Gregory Campbell: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what risks to (a) employees and (b) the wider population were identified following cyber crimes against Government departments in the last 12 months.

John Glen: This Government is committed to protecting citizens and public services from the ever-evolving cyber threat. As set out in the 2023 National Risk Register, cyber attacks on the UK’s transport, health and social care, and telecommunications systems were identified amongst the most serious risks currently facing the UK. In addition, in this year’s National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) Annual Review, data theft - either through ransomware or the exploitation of vulnerabilities in public-facing apps - and cyber-enabled fraud remain some of the most acute cyber threats facing UK businesses and citizens. For example, between September 2022 and August 2023, the NCSC received 297 reports of ransomware activity and 327 incidents involving the exfiltration of data. The Government takes data protection very seriously and we understand that data breaches are a matter of great concern to those whose data may have been exposed in a cyber attack. It is the responsibility of organisations affected to meet their statutory obligations under the UK General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) regarding notifying the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) and the individuals affected of certain personal data breaches. It would not be appropriate to comment on specific cyber incidents for national security reasons. However, the Government has already taken significant steps to reduce the risks identified and to strengthen our cyber defences. The Government Cyber Security Strategy 2022 sets out our plans to significantly harden the Government’s critical functions against cyber attack by 2025, with all organisations across the public sector being resilient to known vulnerabilities by 2030. Alongside this, the National Cyber Strategy 2022 sets out our approach to tackling cyber threats against the wider population, including by better detecting, disrupting and deterring malicious cyber actors and embedding good cyber security practices and protections at national, organisation and citizen level.

Three: Vodafone Group

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 4 December 2023 to Question 4433 on Three: Vodafone Group, if he will publish the decision of the Investment Security Unit on the proposed merger between Three and Vodafone.

Ms Nusrat Ghani: Given the quasi-judicial nature of the government's investment screening powers, and for commercial and national security reasons, it would be inappropriate to comment on any specific acquisitions or the potential applicability of the NSI Act 2021. However, transparency is of course a crucial part of the NSI Act, and as such, the Government publishes notices of any Final Orders made on GOV.UK.

Department for Transport

Roads: Birmingham

Mrs Paulette Hamilton: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of ending Birmingham’s Highways PFI contract earlier than planned on future infrastructure planning in that city.

Mrs Paulette Hamilton: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 30 November 2023 to Question 4015 on Roads: Midlands, if he will make a comparative estimate of the (a) additional funding for the West Midlands and East Midlands referenced in that Answer and (b) impact of shortening Birmingham's Highways PFI contract to one year on the funding available for highways maintenance.

Guy Opperman: The Government has funded Birmingham City Council’s Highways Maintenance contract at £50.3 million a year for 13 years and will continue to do so, maintaining the current level of funding to the council at £50 million a year for the remainder of the current spending review period until 2023/24.After this time, West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA) will become eligible for an additional share of the £8.3 billion as the £151 million for WMCA did not previously include an allocation for Birmingham City Council’s roads. This is part of the £2.2 billion wider funding for East Midlands and West Midlands.This is in addition to the £1bn of CRSTS funding to WMCA up to 2026/27, and CRSTS 2 indicative funding of over £2.6billion over 5 years from 2027/28 to 2031/32.

Motor Vehicles: Driving Licences

Dr Thérèse Coffey: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will bring forward legislative proposals to repeal section 5(2) of the Motor Vehicles (Driving Licences) Regulations 1999.

Guy Opperman: I am mindful of the particular concerns of the Hon Lady on this issue, we keep it under close review, and whilst there aren’t current proposals, that does not preclude their introduction at a future date.

Parking: Pedestrian Areas

Simon Lightwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what research his Department has commissioned into pavement parking (a) for the consultation entitled Managing pavement parking, which closed on 22 November 2020, and (b) beyond the scope of this consultation.

Guy Opperman: There were over 15,000 responses to the consultation. The Department has been giving careful consideration to the findings. The Department is working through the options and the opportunities for taking matters forward and will publish a formal response as soon as this process is concluded.

Transport: Young People

Ian Mearns: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the (a) economic and (b) social impact of increases in the cost of transport on young people.

Ian Mearns: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will make an assessment of the potential impact of increases in the cost of transport on the levels of (a) unemployment and (b) productivity among 16-24 year olds.

Huw Merriman: All children under 16 receive 50 per cent off all adult rail fares, and in 2019 we introduced the 16-17 Saver railcard, extending this to 16- and 17-year-olds, meaning that a 50 per cent discount is available to children throughout their period of compulsory education and training. For students aged 18 and above, including mature students over the age of 25 studying full-time, the 16-25 Railcard offers a third off most rail travel. We have also introduced the 26-30 Railcard, extending the 34 per cent discount to more young adults. In England, the majority of bus services outside London operate on a commercial basis, and decisions about offering reduced or discounted fares for commercial bus services are predominantly for operators to take. Many bus operators currently offer discounted fares for younger people. Our most recent set of statistics shows by the end of March 2023, at least 20 travel concession authorities themselves and at least one commercial bus operator in 71 out of the 84 travel concession authority areas in England, outside London, offered some form of discounted travel for young people. The Government introduced a £2 cap on single bus fares in England outside London from 1 January 2023 until the end of 2024 to help passengers save on their regular travel costs. The Government has provided almost £600 million to support the scheme.

Driving Tests: Mid Bedfordshire

Alistair Strathern: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the average waiting time to take a driving test is from the date of booking the test in Mid Bedfordshire constituency; and how many people are waiting to take a test in that constituency as of 6 December 2023.

Guy Opperman: The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency’s (DVSA) priority is to reduce car practical driving test waiting times, whilst upholding road safety standards. To increase the number of available test slots, it is conducting tests outside of regular hours, including at weekends and on public holidays, and buying back annual leave from driving examiners.Since April 2021, measures put in place by the DVSA to reduce waiting times for its customers, together with the ongoing recruitment of driving examiners, is creating on average over 42,900 extra car test slots each month.The DVSA has deployed all eligible managers and administrative staff back on the front line to do driving tests from the beginning of October until the end of March, which will create around 150,000 additional test slots. The DVSA is unable to calculate the waiting time for each constituent.

South West Main Line

Geraint Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, when his Department plans to make a decision on upgrading the South West main line between Swansea, Cardiff and Bristol Temple Meads.

Huw Merriman: A full business case is being developed to enhance the parallel relief line which will increase capacity for rail services in South Wales.In addition, the Government’s response to the Union Connectivity Review confirms that we are providing £2.7m to Transport for Wales to develop options for upgrades to the South Wales Main Line, including new stations between Cardiff and the Severn Tunnel and increased services between Bristol and West Wales.

Railways: Fares

Kwasi Kwarteng: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to the Answer of 4 September 2023 to Question 195612 on Railways: Fares, when he plans that contactless pay as you go ticketing will be operational at all rail stations in Spelthorne.

Huw Merriman: The Department is working closely with Rail Delivery Group, Transport for London and train operators to ensure the launch of contactless PAYG to all stations in Spelthorne in Spring 2024.

TransPennine Express

Grahame Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether he plans to publish the business case for the Transpennine Route Upgrade.

Huw Merriman: The Transpennine Route Upgrade business case will be published early in 2024, after my recent announcement of further funding of £3.9bn for the next phase of the programme.

Roads: Mid Bedfordshire

Alistair Strathern: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department is taking to ensure the adequacy of (a) pothole repairs and (b) other maintenance of roads in Mid Bedfordshire constituency.

Guy Opperman: We have recently published details of the very significant £8.3 billion extra road funding which will make an unprecedented transformation in the condition of our highways across the country. Bedford and Central Bedfordshire will receive an additional £0.47 million and £0.702 million respectively in both this financial year and the next as part of this. This is on top of the Department providing Bedford and Central Bedfordshire Councils with £4.39 million and £6.55 million respectively to maintain their local highway networks in 2023/24; this includes their share of the extra £200 million announced at Budget 2023. It is up to each local highway authority to ensure that it is maintaining its roads appropriately and in accordance with its statutory under Section 41 of the Highways Act 1980.The Department strongly advocates a risk-based whole lifecycle asset management approach to local authority highways maintenance programmes and encourages good practice in highway maintenance through channels such as the Well Managed Highway Infrastructure Code of Practice, produced by the UK Roads Leadership Group (UKRLG).

Shipping: Exhaust Emissions

Geraint Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of establishing emission control areas in the European Atlantic from Portugal to Ireland, around the UK to Iceland and Norway for sulphur dioxide and oxides of nitrogen for shipping.

Guy Opperman: As set out in the Clean Maritime Plan published in 2019, we have committed to consulting on options for extending the North Sea Emissions Control Area.

Department for Transport: Electronic Purchasing Card Solution

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to his Department's publication of data on spending over £500 using a government procurement card in August 2023, what the (a) location and (b) purpose was of the ministerial visit for which a car was hired from Network Executive Ltd on 3 August 2023.

Anthony Browne: The spend relates to a Ministerial visit to the North East. The Secretary of State travelled between several locations in Darlington and Teeside to meet with local stakeholders and visit a range of transport-related sites, including meeting with the winners of the Tees Valley hydrogen transport hub competition.

Motor Vehicles: Exhaust Emissions

Sir Charles Walker: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 15 November 2023 to Question 369 on Motor Vehicles: Exhaust Emissions, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of regulatory divergence with (a) the EU and (b) other markets on the UK L-Category sector.

Anthony Browne: The UK’s exit from the European Union has provided the opportunity for this country to develop its own regulatory approach to decarbonising its entire fleet of new road vehicles, which will support UK industry and riders in the process. As previously stated in the answer to Question 369, the Government will consult on any future regulatory framework to deliver and enforce the end of sale dates for new non-zero emission L-category vehicles as is appropriate.

Diesel Vehicles: Vans

Geraint Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to the Answer of 24 May 2023 to Question 185865 on Diesel Vehicles, how many diesel vans were registered for the first time in each region of England in (a) 2022 and (b) each month in 2023.

Anthony Browne: The number of new diesel vans (light goods vehicles) registered to keepers in each region of England in a) 2022 and (b) each month in 2023, is given in the tables below for the period for which data are available: Note that the keeper of the vehicle is responsible for registering and taxing the vehicle only. The keeper of the vehicle is not necessarily the owner or the driver, e.g. fleet vehicles owned by companies. Most (93% in 2022) new registrations of diesel vans were to company keepers.Region2022East Midlands21,065East of England24,933London8,729North East10,253North West29,206South East51,053South West34,260West Midlands24,220Yorkshire and Humberside19,844Total223,563 RegionJanuary 2023February 2023March 2023April 2023May 2023June 2023East Midlands1,4771,3094,0772,2652,2153,420East of England2,4461,7954,3811,6051,8983,289London5734141,379581700812North East6833271,2278841,0341,784North West2,0861,5184,8642,2722,6103,494South East4,3103,8928,5364,5885,7046,485South West2,5792,3595,3682,5422,7863,774West Midlands1,8341,2574,0611,7741,8152,119Yorkshire and Humberside1,4651,4884,0791,7281,8203,084Total17,45314,35937,97218,23920,58228,261

Diesel Vehicles: Greater London

Geraint Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to the Answer of 24 May 2023 to Question 185865 on Diesel Vehicles, how many diesel cars were registered for the first time in each borough in Greater London in (a) 2021, (b) 2022 and (c) each month in 2023.

Anthony Browne: The number of diesel cars registered for the first time to keepers in each borough in Greater London in (a) 2021, (b) 2022 and (c) each month in 2023, for which data are available, is provided in the Excel file attached.Note that the keeper of the vehicle is responsible for registering and taxing the vehicle only. The keeper of the vehicle is not necessarily the owner or the driver, e.g. fleet vehicles owned by companies. Most (61% in 2022) new registrations of diesel cars are to company keepers.231211 Diesel vans in Greater London (xlsx, 25.8KB)

Diesel Vehicles: Greater London

Geraint Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to the Answer of 24 May 2023 to Question 185865 on Diesel Vehicles, how many diesel vans were registered for the first time in each borough in Greater London in (a) 2021, (b) 2022 and (c) each month in 2023.

Anthony Browne: The number of diesel vans registered for the first time to keepers in each borough in Greater London in (a) 2021, (b) 2022 and (c) each month in 2023, for which data are available, is provided in the Excel file attached.Note that the keeper of the vehicle is responsible for registering and taxing the vehicle only. The keeper of the vehicle is not necessarily the owner or the driver, e.g. fleet vehicles owned by companies. Most (93% in 2022) new registrations of diesel vans are to company keepers.   231211 Diesel vans in Greater London (xlsx, 25.8KB)

Bus Services: Suffolk

Dr Thérèse Coffey: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many journeys were made using the £2 bus fare cap in (a) Suffolk and (b) Suffolk coastal district in (i) 2022 and (ii) 2023.

Guy Opperman: The Department for Transport has contracted with external delivery partners to complete a robust monitoring & evaluation of the impact of the Bus Fare Cap Grant, and as a part of this, extensive data is collected from operators including the number of ticket sales. However, the data is commercially sensitive and cannot be disaggregated by region in a way that would provide journey numbers for Suffolk or Suffolk coastal district. The Department will publish the final report evaluating the impact of the £2 fare cap in the spring of 2024. For 21/22 and 22/23, bus passenger journeys made in Suffolk were 9.5 million and 12.2 million respectively (BUS01: Local bus passenger journeys). This 28% increase in passenger journeys will likely have been impacted by the introduction of the £2 bus fare cap from 1 January 2023, which the Government has extended until the end of 2024. This takes total Government investment in the £2 bus fare cap to nearly £600 million. The Department for Transport's local bus fare statistics show that between September 22 and September 23, bus fares have dropped by 6.2% in England, outside London, and by 11% in non-metropolitan parts of England. In Scotland, Wales and London, where the buses are devolved, fares increased by 9.8%, 6.2% and 6.0%, respectively.

Buses: Exhaust Emissions

Simon Lightwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many buses funded through the Zero Emission Bus Regional Areas scheme (a) have been ordered and (b) are on the road.

Guy Opperman: The Zero Emission Bus Regional Areas (ZEBRA) 1 scheme provided funding to 16 local transport authorities in England outside London. The scheme will fund up to 1,300 zero emission buses, though this is subject to change as projects are progressed by local transport authorities. Of the buses funded, an estimated 984 have been ordered and 137 are on the road. Overall, since February 2020, an estimated 4,200 zero emission buses have been funded across the UK, this includes buses funded by ZEBRA 1.

Rapid Transit Systems: Finance

Simon Lightwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of allowing Bus Service Improvement Plan funding to be used for light rail systems in areas where funding has been awarded.

Guy Opperman: BSIP and BSIP+ funding is intended to be used by LTAs to support the aims of the National Bus Strategy to make buses more frequent, more reliable, easier to understand and use, better co-ordinated and cheaper. It can also be used to support and protect existing bus services that would otherwise be at risk. It should not be used to support other modes, including light rail systems, where it is not clear that the primary benefits accrue to buses.

Taxis: Minimum Wage

Simon Lightwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what progress his Department is making on introducing national minimum standards for taxi and private hire vehicles.

Guy Opperman: The Government has taken action to support taxi and private hire vehicle licensing authorities in England to use their existing powers to set consistent licensing standards. The Government published the Statutory Taxi and Private Hire Vehicle Standards in 2020, statutory guidance, which focus on safeguarding standards to protect children and vulnerable adults, although the measures benefit all passengers. On 17 November 2023 the Government issued updated Best Practice Guidance, following consultation, which seeks to drive consistency on licensing issues outside of the scope of the statutory guidance and maintaining high standards of safety and accessibility. The Government remains committed to legislating for national minimum standards when Parliamentary time allows. The guidance already issued would be a natural starting point when setting future legislation.

Transport: Mid Bedfordshire

Alistair Strathern: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent estimate his Department has made of the level of (a) car ownership, (b) bus usage (c) light rail usage, (d) train usage and (e) active travel in Mid Bedfordshire constituency.

Guy Opperman: A) Car ownershipAccording to the Department’s vehicle statistics, there were 77,060 registered cars as at end-June 2023 in Mid Bedfordshire constituency.Data for b) bus usage, c) light rail usage, d) train usage and e) active travel is not available for Mid Bedfordshire constituency as it is not collected at this level.

Manchester Metrolink: Stockport

Navendu Mishra: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether his Department has had discussions with the Mayor of Greater Manchester on the proposed Metrolink tram extension to Stockport.

Guy Opperman: The Mayor has met with Ministers on several occasions this year to discuss various transport issues. The Department is in regular discussions with Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA) regarding the region’s City Region Sustainable Transport Settlement (CRSTS) programme. CRSTS includes funding for transformative local transport projects which Mayoral Combined Authorities can use to deliver Mass Transit schemes based on their own local priorities. Indicative funding allocations have been published for the second round of the City Region Sustainable Transport Settlements (CRSTS) which covers the period 2027/28 to 2031/32. Greater Manchester Combined Authority’s Settlement is worth £2.47 billion which includes a Network North uplift of £928 million. GMCA could choose to use this funding to deliver Mass Transit connectivity to Stockport.

Roads: Hedgehogs

Sir John Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he is taking with Cabinet collagues to help reduce the number of hedgehogs killed on roads.

Guy Opperman: The Secretary of State discusses many issues with Cabinet colleagues.

Railways: North of England

Louise Haigh: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the (a) delivery milestones, (b) timeframe and (c) benefit cost ratio are for the planned NPR Bradford-Manchester line as part of Network North.

Louise Haigh: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the (a) delivery milestones, (b) timeframe and (c) benefit cost ratio are for the electrification of the Sheffield - Leeds Line as part of Network North.

Louise Haigh: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the (a) delivery milestones, (b) timeframe and (c) benefit cost ratio are for the electrification of the (i) Hull - Leeds and (ii) Sheffield - Hull rail line as part of Network North.

Louise Haigh: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the (a) delivery milestones, (b) timeframe and (c) benefit cost ratio are for the electrification of the Hope Valley line between Sheffield and Manchester as part of Network North.

Louise Haigh: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the (a) delivery milestones, (b) timeframe and (c) benefit cost ratio are for upgrading the Energy Coast Line between Carlisle, Workington and Barrow as part of Network North.

Huw Merriman: The Government is committed to delivering all of these schemes and is in the early stages of planning next steps, including delivery timelines, working closely with Network Rail and other partners. I have undertaken extensive engagement with local leaders on these schemes including recent visits to West Yorkshire, South Yorkshire and Manchester.All schemes will be subject to the development and approval of business cases and will undergo all formal governance, in line with relevant fiscal and legal duties.Benefit Cost Ratios (BCRs) within the economic case are only one element of decision-making on schemes and should be considered alongside the other cases in the five case business model used in Government (strategic, economic, financial, commercial and management cases). We do not routinely make BCRs available.

Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office

Alexis Rodríguez Cabello

Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, whether he is taking steps to impose sanctions on Major General Alexis Rodríguez Cabello.

David Rutley: The UK is concerned by the recent steps taken by Venezuela, with respect to the Essequibo region of Guyana. We believe the unilateral actions of Venezuela are unjustified and should cease. The UK is clear that the border was settled in 1899 through international arbitration. The UK has sanctioned 41 Venezuelans under our Venezuela Autonomous, Global Human Rights and Global Anti-Corruption frameworks. We do not have sectoral sanctions on Venezuela and are not at present considering changes to our sanctions position. It is a longstanding policy that we do not comment on future sanctions designations as to do so may reduce their impact. We keep our sanctions under review and reserve the right to introduce further measures.

Guyana: Venezuela

Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, what steps he is taking at the UN to press for international sanctions on Venezuela over its dispute with Guyana.

David Rutley: On 30 November, the Foreign Secretary discussed Venezuela's steps with respect to the region of Essequibo in Guyana with President Ali of Guyana. We believe the unilateral actions of Venezuela are unjustified and should cease. The UK is clear that the border was settled in 1899 through international arbitration. The UK has sanctioned 41 Venezuelans under our Venezuela Autonomous, Global Human Rights and Global Anti-Corruption frameworks. We do not have sectoral sanctions on Venezuela and are not at present considering changes to our sanctions position. It is a longstanding policy that we do not comment on future sanctions designations as to do so may reduce their impact. We keep our sanctions under review and reserve the right to introduce further measures.

Gaza: Fuels and Water

Jeremy Corbyn: To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, if he will make representations to the Israeli authorities on lifting restrictions on (a) water and (b) fuel reaching internally displaced refugees.

David Rutley: We are deeply concerned about the fuel shortages in Gaza. Fuel is necessary to allow humanitarian organisations to deliver assistance, power hospitals and operate desalinisation plants. The Government of Israel must allow sufficient aid and fuel into Gaza to meet the needs of civilians. We support any action that aims to keep civilians safe and protected. The pause that took place last week for hostage and prisoner releases demonstrated what can be achieved when there is political agreement to allow more vital aid and fuel into Gaza. This should be sustained and built on now that the pause has ended.We have urged Israel to take action to limit civilian casualties, prevent mass displacement and ensure viable safe areas. About 1.8 million people in Gaza, or nearly 80 per cent of the population, are estimated to be internally displaced. However, obtaining an accurate count is challenging, especially given difficulties in tracking Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) staying with host families, movement of IDPs following evacuation orders since 1 December, and access restrictions. The UK Government has already announced £60 million in humanitarian funding and has sent more than 74 tonnes of emergency relief for civilians in the Occupied Palestinian Territories. This funding will help support the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) in responding to critical food, fuel, water, health, shelter and security needs in Gaza.

Alaa Abd El-Fattah

Geraint Davies: To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, what recent discussions he has had with his counterpart in Egypt on Alaa Abd El-Fattah; and whether he is taking steps to secure consular access to him.

David Rutley: Ministers and officials have raised Mr El-Fattah's case at the highest levels in the Egyptian government, and will continue to do so. This includes consistent calls for consular access. The Prime Minister has raised Mr El-Fattah's case with President Sisi on a number of occasions, most recently on 1 December. The former Foreign Secretary raised Mr El-Fattah's case on several occasions with Egyptian Foreign Minister Shoukry, including on 18 September. The Minister of State for Development and Africa Andrew Mitchell raised the case with the Egyptian authorities on 15 November during his visit to Cairo. The Minister of State for the Middle East, also responsible for Human Rights, Lord (Tariq) Ahmad of Wimbledon has also raised the case several times, most recently with Foreign Minister Shoukry during his visit to Cairo on 4 April, and on a number of occasions with the Egyptian Ambassador to London.

Gaza: Humanitarian Aid

Jeremy Corbyn: To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, what estimate he has made of the number of lorries that need to pass through the Rafah border crossing each day in order to deliver sufficient humanitarian aid to people in Gaza.

David Rutley: The flow of aid into and through Gaza continues to be insufficient and we are urgently exploring all diplomatic options to increase this, including urging Israel to open other existing land border crossings such as Kerem Shalom. Fuel remains a critical component, without sufficient aid, fuel cannot be distributed by humanitarian organisations and hospitals, bakeries as well as desalination plants cannot operate. We are also actively exploring other routes for aid to get into Gaza.On 10 December, as of 22:00, 100 trucks carrying humanitarian supplies entered from Egypt into Gaza, the same volume as in most days since the resumption of hostilities on 1 December. This is well below the daily average of 500 truckloads (including fuel) that entered every working day prior to 7 October according to United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA). The UNOCHA has also reported on the 9 and 10 December, a daily average of 150,000 Lt of fuel entered Gaza from Egypt.The UK Government has already announced £60 million in humanitarian funding since the crisis began and has sent more than 74 tonnes of emergency relief for civilians in Gaza. The shipments have included lifesaving items such as wound care packs, water filters and solar powered lights. Shipments have also provided shelter equipment such as 4,500 blankets and 4,500 sleeping mats, as well as vital equipment including forklift trucks, belt conveyors and lighting towers, specifically requested by UK partners in the region to manage and deliver aid more effectively.

Gaza: Humanitarian Aid

Imran Hussain: To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, if he will make an assessment of the potential impact of the humanitarian pause in the conflict between Israel and Hamas on the provision of humanitarian aid to people in Gaza.

David Rutley: The recent humanitarian pause demonstrated what can be achieved to get vital aid into Gaza including the levels of aid that is possible and it is important that this level of aid is now, at a minimum, sustained. The UK is supportive of humanitarian pauses as part of measures to facilitate the flow of life-saving humanitarian aid and ensure civilians are safe. The FCDO is actively engaging with international partners and those operating on the ground to do all we can to address the humanitarian crisis in Gaza. We will continue to use all the tools of British diplomacy and development to enhance the prospects of peace and stability in the region, working closely with our partners.

Military Aid: Israel

Kenny MacAskill: To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, whether his Department has undertaken an Overseas Security and Justice Assistance assessment for providing (a) assistance and (b) arms to Israel since 7 October 2023.

David Rutley: An Overseas Security and Justice Assistance (OSJA) assessment is in place for the UK's work in Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories. The OSJA assessment process exists to ensure UK overseas security and justice development assistance work meets our human rights obligations and our values. It was most recently updated in January 2023, in line with the Government's routine annual update cycle. It has not been updated since 7 October 2023.

Bahrain: Gulf Strategy Fund

Kenny MacAskill: To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, how many projects funded by the Gulf Strategy Fund (a) have been approved, (b) have been delivered and (c) he plans to deliver in Bahrain in the 2023-2024 financial year.

Kenny MacAskill: To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, if he will publish a list of each project funded by the Gulf Strategy Fund which he (a) has approved, (b) has delivered and (c) plans to deliver in Bahrain in the 2023-2024 financial year.

David Rutley: The FCDO remains committed to supporting reform in Bahrain, including through projects delivered via the Gulf Strategy Fund (GSF). The full list of projects to be delivered by the British Embassy in Bahrain is yet to be finalised but details will be published as usual on Gov.uk towards the end of the financial year.

Mehran Raoof

Patrick Grady: To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, what discussions his Department has had with its Iranian counterparts on the imprisonment of Mehran Raoof.

David Rutley: We are supporting the family of Mr Mehran Raoof and have raised his case with the Iranian government. Mr Raoof's welfare is a top priority. It remains in Iran's gift to release any British National who has been unfairly detained. We urge the Government of Iran to stop its practice of unfairly detaining British and other foreign nationals. We will continue to work with like-minded partners to that end.

Israel: Palestinians

Dan Carden: To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, pursuant to the Answer of 27 November 2023 to Question 2953 on Israel: Palestinians, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of the UK formally recognising a State of Palestine on the probability of a political solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict being reached in the form of a two-state solution; and what criteria the Government uses to determine (a) when a political solution has been reached and (b) whether to formally recognise a State of Palestine.

David Rutley: The UK is committed to making progress towards a two-state solution. We believe that negotiations will only succeed when they are conducted between Israelis and Palestinians, supported by the international community. To prevent further conflict and terrorism, there must be a political solution which provides justice and security for both Israelis and Palestinians. Bilateral recognition in itself cannot end the occupation; without a negotiated settlement, the occupation and the problems that come with it will continue. The Prime Minister has pledged to work together with our partners to redouble efforts towards this conclusion, focussing on the provision of serious, practical and enduring support needed to bolster the Palestinian Authority.

China: Beijing Jianguang Asset Management

Liam Byrne: To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, what information his Department holds on the relationship between Beijing Jianguang Asset Management Co. Ltd and the State Council of China.

Anne-Marie Trevelyan: Beijing Jianguang Asset Management Co. (also known as JAC Capital) is a subsidiary of JIC Capital. JIC Capital is reportedly a state-owned investment group with a 51 per cent holding of JAC Capital.

Morocco: Development Aid

Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, what steps his Department has taken to provide support for Morocco following the attack in Smara of 28 October 2023.

David Rutley: The Government is aware of the incident in Smara, and awaits the outcome of the UN Mine Action Service's investigation into the circumstances surrounding the attack.

Mauritania: Security

Ms Lyn Brown: To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, what steps he is taking to engage with Mauritania on security issues following the formal withdrawal of Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger from the G5 Sahel; and what steps he is taking with international partners to address the impact of those withdrawals on the (a) Sahel Coalition and (b) Alliance Sahel.

Mr Andrew Mitchell: The UK is engaging closely with Mauritania, the G5 Sahel Presidency, on the recent withdrawal of Niger and Burkina Faso. We continue to discuss the impacts of the withdrawals on the Sahel Coalition and the Alliance Sahel with partners, with a meeting of the Coalition planned for 14 December. The UK stands with the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) in calling for the restoration of democracy in Niger. Mauritania remains an important regional partner and we are working with NATO partners on a Defence Capacity Building programme for the country. I met with the Mauritanian Ambassador in London on 11 December.

Iran: Hezbollah

Mr Gregory Campbell: To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, what information his Department holds on trends in the level of financial support provided by Iran to the Hizballah organisation in the last six months.

David Rutley: The UK Government regularly assesses Iran's political, financial and military support to several militant and proscribed groups, including Hezbollah. Such activity compromises the region's security and Iran must bear responsibility for the actions of the groups it has long supported. We currently sanction more than 350 Iranian individuals and entities, including the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps in its entirety. As the former Foreign Secretary announced, a new sanctions regime will be in place by the end of the year, giving greater powers to make designations for destabilising Iranian activity in the region.

Afghanistan: Humanitarian Aid

Fleur Anderson: To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, if he will make an assessment of whether the aid his Department has provided to Afghanistan has been distributed equitably to religious minority groups since the recent earthquake.

Leo Docherty: The FCDO has provided £3 million to people affected by the recent earthquake in Herat. In line with established humanitarian principles, no direct data on religious affiliation is collected as part of these responses. Assistance is provided impartially on the basis of detailed assessments to identify the worst affected populations. Our partners have not reported any restrictions on their access to affected populations following the earthquake. We are committed to ensuring human rights are respected in Afghanistan, including those of vulnerable minority communities.

Afghanistan: Humanitarian Aid

Fleur Anderson: To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, what steps his Department has taken to distribute humanitarian aid to Afghanistan since the recent earthquake.

Leo Docherty: UK funded prepositioned supplies supported humanitarian partners in the immediate aftermath of the October earthquake. An additional £1 million was allocated to the Red Cross and £1 million to the Afghanistan Humanitarian Fund (AHF) to help meet emergency needs. A further £1 million has been allocated to United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) to provide targeted support to affected women and girls. This support ensured affected communities received emergency shelter, food and health assistance. Overall, $10 million has been allocated from the AHF and a $5 million from the United Nations Central Emergency Response Fund, which the UK supports.

Bahrain: Prison Sentences

Kenny MacAskill: To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, whether he has made an assessment of the potential implications for his policies of the publication by Human Rights Watch on the sentencing of 13 people to prison in Bahrain, published on 6 December 2023.

Kenny MacAskill: To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, with reference to the publication by the Human Rights Watch on the sentencing of 13 people to prison in Bahrain, published on 6 December 2023, what discussions he has had with his counterpart in Bahrain on due process.

David Rutley: The FCDO continues to follow matters that relate to human rights in Bahrain closely and is aware of reporting about the court proceedings referenced. We have previously been assured in other cases (where individuals linked to one charge are tried together) that an individual's right to separate legal representation of their choice is guaranteed by law. The UK continues to encourage the Government of Bahrain to meet its international and domestic human rights commitments.

Israel: Occupied Territories

Jonathan Edwards: To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, what discussions he has had with the International Criminal Court on the adequacy of its funding to investigate conduct in Israel, Gaza and the West Bank.

David Rutley: The UK is one of the major funders of the Court through its annual budget and works to ensure the Court has the resources it needs to operate effectively. Additionally, the UK provides practical support including witness protection; sentence enforcement; and secondments. This year we also provided additional funding to the Prosecutors Trust Fund for Advanced Technology and Specialized Capacity, the Trust Fund for Deployed Personnel and the Trust Fund for Victims. Funding earmarked for individual investigations is forbidden under the financial regulations of the Court.

Developing Countries: Climate Change

Kim Johnson: To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, what recent (a) technical and (b) financial support the Government has provided to the global south to adapt to and mitigate the effects of climate change.

Mr Andrew Mitchell: The UK is delivering on our commitment to spend £11.6 billion of International Climate Finance (ICF) between financial year 2021/2022 and financial year 2025/2026, including £3 billion on development solutions that protect and restore nature. This supports developing countries to both mitigate against and adapt to the impacts of climate change. We publish our ICF results on an annual basis. To date, we have supported over 100 million people to better adapt to the effects of climate change, provided nearly 70 million people with improved access to clean energy and reduced or avoided over 86 million tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions. In addition, we have supported 125 countries and 1,450 organisations with technical assistance in areas including energy supply, sustainable agriculture and transport.

Tunisia: Christianity

Fleur Anderson: To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, whether he had discussions on the persecution of Christians in Tunisia during the second ministerial meeting of the UK-Tunisia Association Council in October.

David Rutley: The subject of the persecution of Christians in Tunisia was not discussed during the 2nd UK-Tunisia Association Council. However, Freedom of Religion or Belief (FoRB) is part of British Embassy Tunis' holistic approach to human rights and open society in Tunisia, which monitors the FoRB aspects in these areas, and maintains active relationships with local FoRB groups.

Middle East and North Africa: Religious Freedom

Fleur Anderson: To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, for what reason freedom of religious belief was not included in the UK-Middle East and North Africa region development partnership summary, published in July 2023.

David Rutley: The UK is committed to defending Freedom of Religion or Belief (FoRB) for all, and reaffirmed the importance of upholding this right in the International Development White Paper, which was published last month. We monitor the situation for religious and non-religious communities globally, and work bilaterally and multilaterally to promote FoRB. Earlier this year, the Minister for the Middle East and North Africa discussed interfaith dialogue when he met the Secretary General of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation. The Minister also visited Abu Dhabi's Abrahamic Family House, the interfaith complex housing the Imam Al-Tayeb Mosque, St Francis Church and Moses Ben Maimon Synagogue, and was clear that, "we must never be complacent on protecting freedom of religion and belief."

Algeria: Migrant Camps

Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, whether officials from (a) his Department and (b) other Government Departments have visited the Tindouf camps in Algeria to examine allegations of the embezzlement of aid in those camps in the last five years.

David Rutley: Officials have visited the Tindouf refugee camps as part of the UN-organised bi-annual Sponsor Programme visits, not specifically to examine any such allegations, during which they have observed the humanitarian effort by NGOs and UN Agencies. The most recent visit took place in November 2022.

Yemen: Food Supply

Gill Furniss: To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, whether he has had recent discussions with the UN World Food Programme on the decision to pause food distribution in northern Yemen; and whether his Department is taking steps to help ensure the adequate supply of food to that region.

David Rutley: After months of negotiations, in November, the World Food Programme (WFP) made the difficult decision to pause food distributions in the north of Yemen due to Houthi unwillingness to target food aid at the families who need it most. The UK has worked closely with WFP as it made this decision. We support WFP's efforts to ensure aid reaches those most in need and will further support WFP to resume food distributions once an agreement with the Houthi authorities is reached.Ensuring food security for vulnerable populations in Yemen remains a UK priority. The FCDO's Food Security Safety Net programme will spend up to £250 million over 5 years, aiming to tackle food insecurity by providing cash transfers to up to 1.5 million of Yemen's most food insecure households through funding partners such as WFP, Social Fund for Development, and a consortium of NGOs.

Western Sahara: Politics and Government

Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, if he will make an assessment of the implications for the UK’s (a) strategic and (b) economic interests in Africa of continued neutrality in the Western Sahara conflict.

David Rutley: The UK continues to support UN-led efforts to reach a just, lasting, and mutually acceptable political solution, based on compromise, which will provide for the self-determination of the people of Western Sahara, and supports the work of Staffan de Mistura, Personal Envoy of the UN Secretary-General. The UK welcomes the recent efforts of all concerned to engage with the Envoy and to facilitate his recent visit to Western Sahara. We will continue to encourage constructive engagement with the political process and monitor progress.

Alaa Abdel Fattah

Patrick Grady: To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, what discussions his Department has had with its Iranian counterparts on the imprisonment of Alaa Abdel Fattah.

David Rutley: Alaa Abd El-Fattah is detained in Egypt. The FCDO has not raised his case with the Iranian Government. Ministers and officials continue to raise Mr El-Fattah's case at the highest levels with the Egyptian government. The Prime Minister has raised Mr El-Fattah's case with President Sisi on a number of occasions, most recently on 1 December on the margins of COP28.

Western Sahara: Economic Situation

Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, how many times officials from (a) his Department and (b) other Government Departments have visited the Western Sahara to examine economic development in that region in the last five years.

David Rutley: Officials have conducted technical visits to Western Sahara. These have included visits to UN peacekeeping (MINURSO) sites to take stock of the situation, and meetings with NGOs and relevant local authorities. The most recent visit took place in September 2023.

Western Sahara: Politics and Government

Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, what recent discussions he has had with his counterparts in (a) the US, (b) France, (c) Germany, (d) the Netherlands and (e) Spain on (i) the Moroccan Autonomy Initiative for Western Sahara and (ii) a political solution to the conflict in that region.

David Rutley: Officials regularly meet and consult with international partners to discuss the issue of Western Sahara, including the US, France, Germany, and the Netherlands, up to and including at Ambassadorial level by His Majesty's Ambassadors to Rabat and Algiers, and at Permanent and Deputy Permanent Representative to the UN-level in New York.

Western Sahara: Economic Situation and Politics and Government

Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, what recent reports he has received on (a) economic and (b) political developments in the Western Sahara.

David Rutley: Lord (Tariq) Ahmad of Wimbledon receives reports on Western Sahara in his capacity as FCDO Minister of State for North Africa. Officials regularly meet and consult with international partners to discuss the issue of Western Sahara, including those from the United Nations Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara (MINURSO), the UN, NGOs, Civil Society Organisations, and the broader international community. This includes meetings up to and including at Ambassadorial level by His Majesty's Ambassadors to Rabat and Algiers, and at Permanent and Deputy Permanent Representative to the UN-level in New York.

Western Sahara: Politics and Government

Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of supporting Morocco in the Western Sahara dispute.

David Rutley: The UK continues to support UN-led efforts to reach a just, lasting, and mutually acceptable political solution, based on compromise, which will provide for the self-determination of the people of Western Sahara, and supports the work of Staffan de Mistura, Personal Envoy of the UN Secretary-General. The UK welcomes the recent efforts of all concerned to engage with the Envoy and to facilitate his recent visit to Western Sahara. We will continue to encourage constructive engagement with the political process.

Western Sahara: Conflict Resolution

Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, if he will take steps to support Moroccan efforts to tackle the Polisario Front.

David Rutley: The UK continues to support UN-led efforts to reach a just, lasting, and mutually acceptable political solution, based on compromise, which will provide for the self-determination of the people of Western Sahara, and supports the work of Staffan de Mistura, Personal Envoy of the UN Secretary-General. The FCDO regards the Polisario Front as a pro-independence movement and party to a UN-mediated dispute. The UK Government closely follows the security situation in the Western Sahara and maintains a regular dialogue with international counterparts, including Morocco.

Vaccination: Research

Maggie Throup: To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, what funding his Department provided for vaccine research and development in each of the last five years; and what he plans to provide in each of the next five years.

Mr Andrew Mitchell: Over the last 5 financial years (2018/19 to 2022/23) the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) have invested the following amounts in research and development for vaccines to combat diseases of poverty for use in low and lower middle-income countries:2018/192019/202020/212021/222022/23£8,528,752£29,589,803£213,773,395£2,391,511£13,012,567To date, FCDO has entered into agreements to invest the following amounts on vaccine Research and Development over the next 5 financial years (2023/24 to 2027/28)*:2023/242024/252025/262026/272027/28£17,008,587£18,626,489£17,253,808£17,000,000£0* The overall investment in vaccine development could increase as a result of a planned funding competition for the research and development of health products to combat diseases of poverty.

Gaza: Humanitarian Aid

Jeremy Corbyn: To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, whether he has had discussions with the Israeli Government on reopening the Kerem Shalom border crossing.

David Rutley: The FCDO is actively engaging with international partners and those operating on the ground to do all we can to address the humanitarian crisis in Gaza. The Prime Minister and the Foreign Secretary engage regularly and closely with regional counterparts including Israel and Egypt on the humanitarian response. However, the flow of aid into and through Gaza continues to be insufficient and we are urgently exploring all diplomatic options to increase this, including urging Israel to open other existing land border crossings such as Kerem Shalom. Fuel remains a critical component, without sufficient aid, fuel cannot be distributed by humanitarian organisations and hospitals, bakeries as well as desalination plants cannot operate. We are also actively exploring other routes for aid to get into Gaza. The UK Government has already announced £60 million in humanitarian funding and has sent more than 74 tonnes of emergency relief for civilians in the Occupied Palestinian Territories.

Gaza: Humanitarian Aid

Imran Hussain: To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, if he will hold discussions with his Israeli counterpart on the potential merits of re-opening additional crossings into Gaza for humanitarian access.

David Rutley: The FCDO is actively engaging with international partners and those operating on the ground to do all we can to address the humanitarian crisis in Gaza. The Prime Minister and the Foreign Secretary engage regularly and closely with regional counterparts including Israel and Egypt on the humanitarian response. However, the flow of aid into and through Gaza continues to be insufficient and we are urgently exploring all diplomatic options to increase this, including urging Israel to open other existing land border crossings such as Kerem Shalom. Fuel remains a critical component and without sufficient aid, fuel cannot be distributed by humanitarian organisations and hospitals, bakeries as well as desalination plants cannot operate. We are also actively exploring other routes for aid to get into Gaza. The UK Government has already announced £60 million in humanitarian funding and has sent more than 74 tonnes of emergency relief for civilians in the Occupied Palestinian Territories.

Development Aid

Geraint Davies: To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, what recent assessment he has made of the potential impact of reducing Official Development Assistance spending from 0.7% to 0.5% of Gross National Income on levels of global poverty.

Mr Andrew Mitchell: Due to the impact of the pandemic on public finances, the government took the difficult decision to temporarily reduce the Official Development Assistance (ODA) budget from 0.7 per cent of gross national income (GNI) to 0.5 per cent. We will return to spending 0.7 per cent of GNI on ODA when, on a sustainable basis, the government is not borrowing for day-to-day spending and underlying debt is falling. The UK remains a champion for international development and one of the most generous global aid donors, spending nearly £12.8 billion in aid in 2022.While the reduction of the UK's ODA budget means some ODA programmes needed to be changed or stopped, it is not possible to attribute the impact of the reduction on changing global poverty levels.The UK's aid spending is crucial for delivering on our re-energised international development agenda set out in the White Paper on International Development, including eliminating extreme poverty, tackling climate change and biodiversity loss, and accelerating progress on the Sustainable Development Goals, but we recognise that ODA alone will not be enough to deliver our goals. That is why we are being innovative, creative and bold about all of the ways we can support global progress - from increasing private investment in development to getting the most from research and technology.

Sudan: Human Rights

Ms Lyn Brown: To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, what steps he is taking to support human rights and civilian protection monitoring in Sudan following the ending of the UNITAMS mandate on 3 December 2023; and what assessment he has made of the adequacy of resources allocated for those purposes by the (a) Sudan office of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights and (b) Sudan Fact-Finding Mission established by the United Nations Human Rights Council.

Mr Andrew Mitchell: The UK continues to fund and support the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights in Sudan in monitoring and reporting on human rights violations. This financial year, the UK has also provided £600,000 to the Centre for Information Resilience's Sudan's Witness Project, which is investigating attacks against civilians. Despite the recent termination of The United Nations Integrated Transition Assistance Mission in Sudan's (UNITAM) mandate following the removal of host state consent, the UK will continue to use its position as penholder at the UN Security Council to call out human rights abuses and we have worked closely with Council members and Sudan to retain a 120-day briefing cycle. In October, the UN Human Rights Council adopted the UK-led 'Sudan Core Group' (US, Norway, Germany, UK) resolution to establish an independent Fact-Finding Mission (FFM) for Sudan which, once operational, will comprise 18 staff plus three experts.

Development Aid: Health Services

Maggie Throup: To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, whether his Department plans to (a) maintain and (b) increase funding for Product Development Partnerships.

Mr Andrew Mitchell: The Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) remains committed to investing in Product Development Partnerships and other global health Research and Development organisations. We plan to launch a call for proposals for funding the development of products and technologies to combat diseases of poverty, for use in Low and Lower Middle Income Countries.At this stage, FCDO plans to invest approximately £230 million in new funding for product development research for health over a 3 - 4 year period from 2023/24.

Nicaragua: International Red Cross

Mr Gregory Campbell: To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, whether he has had recent discussions with his Nicaraguan counterpart on reinstating the legal status of the Nicaraguan Red Cross Association.

David Rutley: The unjustified decision of 10 May 2023 by Nicaragua's National Assembly to rescind the legal status of the Nicaraguan Red Cross Association and confiscate its assets is deeply regrettable. This closure is part of a wider set of actions by the Nicaraguan authorities directed against non-profit organisations and charitable institutions, through which more than 3,000 institutions have been closed since 2018. In a statement released on 19 April 2023, the UK underlined its deep concern at these closures and at the wider political situation in Nicaragua, which is shared by the international community.

Gaza: Children

Nadia Whittome: To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, what discussions he has had with his Israeli counterpart on the number of children killed in Gaza.

David Rutley: The Foreign Secretary visited Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories on 23 November, where he met President Isaac Herzog, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Foreign Minister Eli Cohen and other senior Israeli officials, to discuss the conflict and the future. The Foreign Secretary expressed concerns that there will be no long-term safety, security and stability for Israel unless there is long term safety, security and stability for the Palestinian people, particularly children. The UK government is concerned about the shocking impact of the conflict on children in Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories and UK humanitarian aid will ensure the specific needs of children are met, including the specific needs of girls. As reiterated by the Prime Minister at COP28 in December 2023, we continually are making it clear that Israel must take maximum care to protect civilian life, especially young lives.

Gaza: Israel

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, what discussions he has had with his US counterpart on the potential merits of a ceasefire.

David Rutley: The Foreign Secretary remains in close contact with his US counterpart. In November 2023, the Foreign Secretary spoke with US Secretary of State Blinken following the G7, where the US had set out its guiding principles for future arrangements in the Israel-Gaza crisis. The Foreign Secretary and Secretary Blinken both expressed their support for humanitarian pauses to increase the volume of aid and aid workers into Gaza. The UK supports the civilian protection plans outlined by the US Secretary of State at COP28 in December 2023. On 7 December, the Foreign Secretary travelled to Washington, D.C. to speak with Secretary Blinken about the conflict including the enormous humanitarian and civilian need.

Democratic Republic of Congo: Conservation

Chris Grayling: To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, if he will list conservation projects in the Congo Basin that have received government grants in each of the last three years.

Mr Andrew Mitchell: In the last three year's His Majesty's Government has supported projects which have contributed towards conservation in the Congo Basin region, as follows:Darwin Initiative. Further information about supported projects can be found at https://www.darwininitiative.org.uk/project-search/Illegal Wildlife Trade Challenge Fund. Further information about supported projects can be found at https://iwt.challengefund.org.uk/project-search/Investments in Forests and Sustainable Land Use (IFSLU) programme has supported:a. Africa Palm Oil Initiative (now renamed Africa Sustainable Commodities Initiative), managed through ProForest. Covering Cameroon, Central African Republic (CAR), Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Gabon and the Republic of Congo (RoC).b. Non-Timber Forest Products (NTFPs) in Djoum-Mintom landscape, Cameroon. This project is implemented by two partners: APIFED, an NGO promoting women's and indigenous people's rights and Ecotrading, an enterprise specialising in sustainable NTFP sourcing and trade.Forest Governance, Markets and Climate (FGMC) programme has supported projects on forest governance, legality, transparency and rights in the Congo Basin through a number of grants to leading non-governmental organisationsa. Client Earth (CE) - Using the law to address illegal use of forest resources and promote better forest and land governance. Covered Gabon and RoC. Ended December 2022.b. Chatham House (CH) - Strengthening Forest Governance - preparing for the next 10 years. Covered DRC. Ended December 2022.c. University of Wolverhampton (CIDT) - Strengthening Forest and Wildlife Monitoring & Law Enforcement in the Congo Basin. Covered Cameroon, Central African Republic (CAR), DRC, Gabon and RoC. Ended December 2022.d. Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA) - Strengthening forest governance through civil society monitoring and tracking illicit timber flows. Covered Gabon. Ended December 2022.e. Fern - Consolidating good governance, tackling illegalities. Covered Cameroon and RoC. Ended December 2023.f. The Proforest Initiative (PF) - Using deforestation-free commodity supply chains to support national initiatives to combat forest loss. Covered Cameroon. Ended December 2022.g. The Rainforest Foundation UK (RFUK) - Embedding community real time monitoring to sustain livelihoods and forests in Central and West Africa. Covered Cameroon, DRC and RoC. Covered June 2022.h. Rights and Resources Initiative (RRI) - Local to global: Leveraging lessons and opportunities from rightsholders to drive sustainable, equitable and inclusive climate action. Covered DRC and Gabon. Ended December 2022.i. Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) - Improving international and national governance frameworks and business standards for intact forests, climate and biodiversity. Covered Gabon and RoC. Ended December 2022.j. World Resource Institute (WRI) - Consolidating Forest Governance through Transparency and Accountability. Covered Cameroon and RoC. Ended December 2022.k. WWF - Strengthened multilateral engagement and collaboration with China's timber and palm oil supply chains to reduce deforestation and forest degradation. Covered Gabon. Ended December 2022.l. Zoological Society of London (ZSL) - Driving transparent, legal and sustainable forestry practices through financial, market and governance incentives. Covered Cameroon, Gabon and RoC. Ended December 2022.m. Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) - Improving international and national governance frameworks and business standards for intact forests, climate and biodiversity. Covered Gabon and RoC. Ended December 2022.Further information can be found in the FGMC's Annual Review at https://iati.fcdo.gov.uk/iati_documents/D0001101.odtThe UK has also made contributions to the Central African Forests Initiative (CAFI), a UN multi-donor trust fund, annually since FY2021/22.

Gaza: British Nationals Abroad

Stephen Morgan: To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, what recent meetings his Department has held with British nationals with family members held hostage in Gaza.

Stephen Morgan: To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, if he will commit to meeting with British nationals with family members held hostage in Gaza.

Stephen Morgan: To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, what actions he is taking to provide support to British nationals with family members held hostage in Gaza.

David Rutley: Our full sympathies are with families affected by the horrific terrorist attacks committed by Hamas. Since the attacks on 7 October, we have worked tirelessly to support the British people affected. Intensive diplomatic efforts are ongoing with the Qataris, Israelis and others to secure the release of all hostages.The Foreign Secretary met British nationals with family members held hostage, and other families with British links, on Monday 4 December. He also met with family members on his visit to Israel. The Foreign Secretary and other Ministers will continue to meet with and support family members.

Palestinians: Children

Nadia Whittome: To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, if he will make it his policy to call for an immediate moratorium on the (a) arrest, (b) detention and (c) prosecution of Palestinian children by Israeli military authorities.

David Rutley: We remain concerned about Israel's extensive use of administrative detention which, according to international law, should be used only when security makes this absolutely necessary. We continue to call on the Israeli authorities to comply with their obligations under international law and either charge or release detainees. We continue to make representations to the Israeli authorities on the troubling high number of Palestinian children who are not informed of their legal rights, in contravention of Israel's own regulations.

Department for Business and Trade

Baby Care Units: Parental Leave

Stuart C McDonald: To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what recent estimate she has made of (a) when neonatal care and leave will be provided under the Neonatal Care (Leave and Pay) Act 2023 and (b) the number of families that will be able to access that care and leave in its first year.

Kevin Hollinrake: We are committed to introducing Neonatal Care Leave and Pay as quickly as possible and work is ongoing across Government to deliver these new entitlements by April 2025 at the earliest, subject to parliamentary scheduling of the necessary SIs. In the region of 40,000 babies spend over one week in neonatal care each year and it is estimated that approximately 60,000 parents will be eligible for Neonatal Care Leave and Pay with around 34,000 parents taking up this entitlement every year.

Individual Voluntary Arrangements: Fraud

Lloyd Russell-Moyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what steps his Department is taking to tackle companies that provide misleading and fraudulent Individual Voluntary Arrangements.

Kevin Hollinrake: The Financial Conduct Authority recently took action to ban providers of debt advice from receiving payments in exchange for referring debtors to Individual Voluntary Arrangement (IVA) providers. In addition, the Insolvency Service introduced new regulatory guidance to the insolvency profession in relation to the take up of new IVAs.The Government has announced that it will further strengthen the regulatory regime by introducing new legislation to regulate firms providing insolvency services, in addition to individual insolvency practitioners, which will include companies providing IVA solutions.

Export Controls: China

Liam Byrne: To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, pursuant to the Answer of 28 November 2023 to Question 2516 on Foreign Investment in UK and Overseas Trade: China, how many export control licences for (a) products and (b) services destined for China were refused in each of the last five years.

Ms Nusrat Ghani: HM Government does not publish data based on products or services, but individual refusals and the items that may have been refused under each one can be reviewed at https://www.gov.uk/guidance/strategic-export-controls-licensing-data via the Annual Reports, or via the Strategic Export Controls: Reports and Statistics website at https://www.exportcontroldb.trade.gov.uk/sdb2/fox/sdb/. The following number of export licences with China listed as the end user destination were refused in each of the last five years: Description of refused goods20182019202020212022Goods rated for Military use only223113Goods rated for non-Military use only716789112238Total736992113251

Overseas Trade: Namibia

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, whether her Department is taking steps to promote British business opportunities in the Namibian (a) mining and (b) renewable energy sectors.

Greg Hands: In Spring 2024, the Prime Minister will host the second UK-African Investment Summit in London, fostering modern partnerships in trade and investment, to which Namibia is invited. UK Export Finance, the UK’s export credit agency, can provide finance or insurance cover to projects in Namibia, which involve UK business suppliers subject to government policy about support for the fossil fuel energy sector. The Department also has regional mining and clean energy specialists in Africa who can support projects in Namibia.

Department for Business and Trade: India

Navendu Mishra: To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, how many staff from her Department are based in India.

Greg Hands: On 31 October 2023 there were 13 UK Based Staff and 90 Country Based Staff working for the Department for Business and Trade located in India.

Shipbuilding: Exports

Maria Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what steps her Department is taking to help the shipbuilding industry increase its share of the global maritime export market.

Maria Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what steps her Department is taking to help increase exports for the defence shipbuilding industry.

Ms Nusrat Ghani: Strengthening global maritime exports is a key pillar of the National Shipbuilding Strategy. The Department for Business Trade launched the Maritime Capability Campaign Office (MCCO) within UK Defence and Security Exports in March 2022 to support this aim.The MCCO works across government, including the National Shipbuilding Office, Ministry of Defence and UK Export Finance, and supports industry to identify and secure export opportunities through longer term market analysis and co-ordinated campaigns in both the defence and civil maritime sectors.

Department for Business and Trade: Recruitment

Jonathan Ashworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, how much her Department spent on external recruitment consultants in each of the financial years (a) 2020-21, (b) 2021-22, and (c) 2022-23.

Greg Hands: The Department for Business and Trade was created on 7 February in a Machinery of Government change. During the period in question, the Department for International Trade (DIT) and the Department for Business Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) were operating as two separate Departments. DIT expenditure as below. It is not possible to disaggregate the BEIS expenditure. DIT spend YearTotal Spend20/21£183,480.0021/22£161,970.7022/23 £377,336.77

Shipping: Exports

Maria Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, how many maritime prospects UK Defence and Security Exports was managing as of 1 December 2023.

Ms Nusrat Ghani: As of 1 December 2023, UK Defence and Security Exports was managing a ten-year pipeline of over 380 maritime prospects.

Department for Business and Trade: Export Controls

Afzal Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, how many officials in her Department work on processing export licence applications as of 6 December 2023.

Ms Nusrat Ghani: As at 6 December 2023, the processing of export licence applications was completed by 54 officials within the Department for Business and Trade. This comprised 28 in the Licensing Unit, 19 in the Technical Assessment Unit and 7 in the Enforcement Team.

Ministry of Defence

Gaza: Armed Forces

Kenny MacAskill: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether personnel from his Department have been on the ground in Gaza in any capacity since 7 October 2023.

James Heappey: No Defence personnel have been on the ground in Gaza in any capacity since 7 October 2023.

Guyana: Visits Abroad

Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, if he will visit Guyana to show support for its territorial integrity.

James Heappey: There are no plans for a visit at this time. The Chief of the Defence Staff (CDS) and the Secretary of State are in contact with their counterparts in Guyana and CDS will be visiting Guyana in late January 2024 for the annual UK–Caribbean Chiefs of Defence conference.

Army: Training

Mr Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the cost has been of the Collective Training Transformation Programme in the last 12 months.

Dr Andrew Murrison: Over the past 12 months, the cost of the Collective Training Transformation Programme has been £5.7 million.

Ministry of Defence Police: Reviews

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many reviews are taking place in his Department in relation to the Ministry of Defence Police.

Dr Andrew Murrison: The deployment of Ministry of Defence Police resources is kept under constant review. This ensures our policing resources are deployed where they are most needed. The Department is conducting a strategic assessment of our Policing and guarding capabilities to explore improvements to service delivery and mitigate the security threat as efficiently and effectively as possible.

Army: Recruitment

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 5 December 2023 to Question 4613 on Army: Recruitment, what internal transfer bounties are offered for serving Armed Forces personnel to join another Regiment.

Dr Andrew Murrison: The Army currently has one internal transfer bounty in place which is a £7,500 bonus paid to line infantry private soldiers on successful transfer to the Parachute Regiment.

Armed Forces Compensation Scheme: Tax Allowances

Owen Thompson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, if he will hold discussions with the Chancellor of the Exchequer on the potential merits of granting tax-free status to the Survivors' Guaranteed Income Payment.

Dr Andrew Murrison: The Department has no current plans to discuss with the Chancellor of the Exchequer making the Survivors’ Guaranteed Income Payment (SGIP) tax free. The SGIP is paid to dependents who may have other sources of income and therefore it is taken into account for tax purposes.

Ministry of Defence: Consultants

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to his Department's Departmental Resource 2023 statistics published on 30 November 2023, for what reason his Department spent £16 million on external consultants related to strategy in 2022-23.

James Cartlidge: It is taking time to collate the required information to answer the right hon. Member's Question. I will write to him when the information is available, and a copy of this letter will be placed in the Library of The House.

Ministry of Defence: Consultants

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to his Department's Departmental Resource 2023 statistics published on 30 November 2023, what (a) programmes and (b)projects have benefited from the external consultancy spend of £43 million in 2022-23.

James Cartlidge: It is taking time to collate the required information to answer the right hon. Member's Question. I will write to him when the information is available, and a copy of this letter will be placed in the Library of The House.

NATO: Armed Forces

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many and what proportion of troops have been assigned to the NATO Air Policing Mission each year since 2010.

James Heappey: A standard Air Policing detachment is made up of some 220 personnel. Factors which affect the numbers of personnel assigned to the Air Policing Mission are; Location, Threat Assessment and Platform specifications. Numbers will also fluctuate dependent on the Lessons Learnt from previous detachments.

Ministry of Defence: Shipping

Maria Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether any vessels used in UK waters by his Department produced zero-emissions in (a) 2022 and (b) 2023.

Maria Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how much investment in the Royal Navy fleet will be required to meet the terms of international agreements to reduce the environmental impact of the maritime fleet.

Maria Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps he is taking to promote the adoption of green technologies within the shipbuilding sector of the defence industry.

James Cartlidge: The Royal Navy is developing plans to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from warships and Auxiliaries. With regards other vessel emissions: the Royal Navy aims to meet the requirements of International Maritime Organisations (IMO) Conventions and the provisions of the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea to protect the environment where this can be done without compromising operations or operating capability. The Royal Navy is working closely with industrial partners to reduce the environmental impact of the Fleet. Naval ships currently coming into service will have the equipment to reduce oxides of nitrogen to the latest IMO requirements and the Ministry of Defence is already using ultra-low sulphur fuels to minimise sulphur and particulate emissions from combustion exhaust gasses.

Shipbuilding: Expenditure

Maria Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to page 31 of the policy paper entitled Refresh to the National Shipbuilding Strategy, published on 10 March 2022, how much his Department has spent on encouraging investment in advanced production techniques since March 2022.

James Cartlidge: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I provided to the Member for Wentworth and Deane (John Healey) on 30 November to Parliamentary Question Number 3703.National Shipbuilding Office (docx, 17.6KB)

NATO: Military Aircraft

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what capabilities are assigned to NATO’s air policing mission.

James Heappey: A Combat Air Sqn is assigned to undertake the UK’s NATO Air Policing mission. Additionally, Battlespace Managers are deployed to augment the Host Nation Control Reporting Centre staffing during Air Policing missions in all locations. Expeditionary Air Wings (EAW) which provide the supporting functions to the Combat Air Sqn, are Force Generated from Individual Augmentees for each Mission. The Combat Air Sqns are assigned on a rotational basis but are tasked with the Air Policing mission with at least two years notice.

NATO: Military Aircraft

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what capabilities were provided to NATO as part of its air policing mission in each year since 2010.

James Heappey: The UK has contributed annually to NATO’s Air Policing since 2014 by providing a Combat Air Sqn, predominantly Typhoon including; Engineers, Aircrew, Communications, Infra, Security and HQ functions. Battlespace Managers are also provided to the Host Nation’s Control Reporting Centre to provide additional support to Command and Control during the Air Policing missions. This is standard for all Air Policing Missions the UK has undertaken.

Afghanistan: Refugees

Layla Moran: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, if he will take steps to offer a right of appeal to an independent judge for Afghan citizens refused protection under the Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy Scheme.

James Heappey: As set out in HMG policy on gov.uk, if an individual application under the Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy Scheme is found ineligible, the individual has the right to seek a review of that decision within 90 days if they believe the decision was not in accordance with the policy, and/or if they can supply new evidence to support their case that was not available when the decision was made. There are no plans to offer a further right of appeal to an independent judge.

Military Aid

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many Military Aid to Civilian Authority requests his Department (a) received and (b) approved in each month in 2023.

James Heappey: I refer the right hon. Member to the previous answer I gave on 17 November 2022 to Question 86646.Military aid (docx, 15.0KB)

Armoured Fighting Vehicles

Kenny MacAskill: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what his Department's policy is on the use of military vehicles by UK allies (a) in general and (b) at RAF Akrotiri.

James Heappey: Ministry of Defence Policy permits the use of military vehicles by UK allies in accordance with local law and agreements in place. Policy and Regulatory requirements must be met such as, entitlement, the appropriate licence, are trained and are familiar with the vehicle. The UK support our allies based forward at RAF Akrotiri; however, they do not use any UK Military Vehicles during Operations or Exercises. For this activity, our Allies utilise vehicles which they own, or lease.

Ministry of Defence: Consultants and Temporary Employment

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 4 December 2023 to Question 4342 on Ministry of Defence: Consultants and Temporary Employment, how much and what proportion of expenditure by his Department's Head Office in 2021-22 was on (a) strategy, (b) finance, (c) legal, (d) HR and training, (e) organisation and change management, (f) marketing and communications, (g) programme and project management, (h) technical, (i) IT/IS, (j) property and (k) procurement services, (l) other bodies and (m) unknown.

James Cartlidge: The following provides the category breakdown requested of Consultancy expenditure for Head Office during 2021-22:  Category£millionFinance Consultancy0.151Project and Programme Management (PPM)4.732IT/IS0.283Strategy1.187HR, Training and Education0.065Technical1.434Organisation and Change Management2.768Total 10.620

Ministry of Defence: Consultants

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 4 December 2023 to Question 4342 on Ministry of Defence: Consultants and Temporary Employment, how much and what proportion of expenditure on consultancy by his Department's Head Office in 2022-23 was on (a) strategy, (b) finance, (c) legal, (d) HR and training, (e) organisation and change management, (f) marketing and communications, (g) programme and project management, (h) technical, (i) IT/IS, (j) property and (k) procurement services, (l) other bodies and (m) unknown.

James Cartlidge: The following provides the category breakdown requested of Consultancy expenditure for the Department's Head Office during 2022-23: Category£millionFinance Consultancy0.235Project and Programme Management (PPM)2.549Information Technology/Systems0.384Strategy11.047HR, Training and Education0.167Technical1.601Organisation and Change Management0.083Total 16.066

Shipbuilding: Finance

Maria Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to the Shipbuilding Enterprise for Growth minutes of 12 September 2023, whether he made an assessment of the potential merits of providing additional funding to enable the self-assessment to be completed by December 2023.

Maria Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to page 40 of the policy paper entitled Refresh to the National Shipbuilding Strategy, published on 10 March 2022, whether the Shipbuilding Enterprise for Growth Group has identified priority aspects of the shipbuilding value chain where centres of excellence would be expected to operate.

James Cartlidge: As part of its work programme, the Shipbuilding Enterprise for Growth has created a Task and Finish group which is focussed on Centres of Excellence. That group is conducting analysis of the market, including initial gap analysis, and will deliver findings to the Shipbuilding Enterprise for Growth (SEG) for consideration by summer 2024. In addition, the Shipyard of the Future Task and Finish group continues to engage with Industry stakeholders and with others including the Catapult network to consider options including self-assessment and will consider funding requirements as part of this.

Ministry of Defence: Off-payroll Working

Maria Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the largest off-payroll engagement per day payment was in his Department in each financial year since 2019-20.

James Cartlidge: The majority of off payroll engagements within the Department are short term in nature. Typically, engagements of one day are the highest daily pay engagements the Department procures. One day engagements are for speakers or lecturers at key presentations or training events. For the year ending 31 March 2023 an individual was paid £7,500 to lead and run a “How Defence Learns” senior staff event arranged by UK Strategic Command. This presentation was filmed and remains a permanent training resource in the Department. For the year ending 31 March 2022, the highest paid one day engagement was £4,500; for the year ending 31 March 2021 it was £1,865; and for the year ending 31 March 2020 it was £1,844.

China: Forced Labour

Maria Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps he is taking to ensure the defence supply chain is free from forced labour.

Maria Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether he is taking steps to (a) diversify the defence supply chain and (b) ensure there are no links to Xinjiang.

James Cartlidge: The Defence and Security Industrial Strategy and Defence Command Paper Refresh outlines our ambition to build an increasingly diverse and innovative supply-chain. For all new procurements with a high risk of modern slavery or forced labour occurring, bidders and those within their supply chains must submit self-declarations confirming that they are compliant with anti-slavery legislation.

Ministry of Defence: Consultants

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to his Department's Departmental Resource 2023 statistics published on 30 November 2023, what the difference in categorisation of consultancy work between (a) programme and project management and (b) procurement is.

James Cartlidge: Ministry of Defence definitions are in accordance with Cabinet Office definitions on Consultancy. Therefore, Procurement Consultancy is defined as; costs related to advisory services within Procurement including advice and assistance in establishing procurement strategies. Project Management Consultancy is defined as; costs related to advisory services and assistance with Programme and Project Management including advice and management relating to ongoing programmes, one-off projects, programme wide reporting and programme secretariat.

Armed Forces: Women

Luke Pollard: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what recent assessment he has made of his Department's progress towards its target for women to account for 30% of service personnel recruited by 2030.

Luke Pollard: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many and what proportion of armed forces personnel recruited were women in each of the last five years.

Dr Andrew Murrison: The Armed Forces are committed to attracting, retaining and developing the best talent from the broadest diversity of skills and background, to reflect the society we serve. Women are an integral part of our Armed Forces and the Ministry of Defence is taking action to ensure the Armed Forces support women to have full and thriving military careers - including reaching the very top ranks. A Level of Ambition of 30% inflow of women by 2030 was announced in 2021, building on the content of the previously published Defence Diversity and Inclusion Strategy 2018-2030. This is both "stretching and challenging" and a clear statement that Defence wants to improve, recognises the mission critical value women bring and is creating conversations and driving improvement activities. Defence has adopted almost all the recommendations from the Defence Committee’s 2021 report into Women in the Armed Forces, having tested them with the Service Women’s Networks – and in many cases taking them further. A further progress update was provided to the Defence Committee on 14 November 2023. Notable recent progress includes:In summer and autumn 2022, new Armed Forces policies were released on sexual exploitation and abuse, a ban on relationships between instructors and trainees, a zero-tolerance approach to sexual offending, and introducing additional levers to discharge those in the Armed Forces found guilty of unacceptable sexual behaviour.Equipment and uniform improvements across the Services, including improved fit combat clothing and the provision of sports bras to all those who require breast support in initial training.A range of health information products that support Servicewomen, including menopause and breastfeeding policies, a Servicewomen’s Health Handbook and a reviewed sanitary product provision and disposal system. The requested information on the number and proportion of women recruited to the Armed Forces is published in the UK Armed Forces Biannual Diversity Statistics: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/uk-armed-forces-biannual-diversity-statistics-index. Specifically, tables 7 and 23 of the supporting datasheets provide information on intake by gender to, respectively, UK Regulars and Future Reserves 2020.

Maritime Technologies Forum

Maria Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many times and on what dates the Green Maritime Technology Forum has met since it was established.

James Cartlidge: The Green Maritime Forum has been absorbed into the Senior Responsible Owner’s (SRO) Contact Group. The Contact Group is attended by SROs of all major Government shipbuilding procurements to support delivery on all of the objectives of the NSbS and ensure consistency of approach across the programmes. This group meets quarterly. It has met on seven occasions between 17 March 2022 and 16 November 2023, with another due to take place in quarter 1 of 2024.

Innovate UK and UK Research and Innovation

Maria Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps his Department is taking to raise awareness of (a) Innovate UK and (b) UKRI to manufacturing firms in the defence industry.

James Cartlidge: The Ministry of Defence (MOD) works closely with Innovate UK and UKRI to ensure broad awareness of the opportunities available for manufacturing companies in the defence industry. Innovate UK and UKRI (through the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC)) are core members of the Research Technology and Innovation Group (RTIG), a forum discussing and sharing knowledge on current science, innovation and technology challenges, co-chaired by Industry and the MOD. The Department is in partnership with Innovate UK to deliver the Defence Technology Exploitation Programme (DTEP), providing grant funding to small and medium sized enterprises (SME's) to develop innovative technologies and processes, and to enhance defence supply chains. The MOD has also developed an approach to Cross Sector Innovation challenges that enables and supports collaboration between Defence, Other Government Departments, Industry and Academia. These initiatives are all helping to raise awareness of Innovate UK and UKRI across the defence industry so that firms are able to take advantage of the opportunities and work with us to solve shared challenges.

Shipbuilding: Standards

Maria Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to page 30 of the policy paper entitled Refresh to the National Shipbuilding Strategy, published on 10 March 2022, what recent steps his Department has taken to implement a consistent approach to shipbuilding.

James Cartlidge: The National Shipbuilding Strategy Refresh (NSbS) was launched on 10 March 2022. It sets out a comprehensive package of Government support to ensure a globally successful, innovative and sustainable UK shipbuilding enterprise. It reflects over £4 billion of investment in UK shipbuilding over this spending period. A key element of the NSbS was the creation of the National Shipbuilding Office which works across Government and the Shipbuilding Enterprise to deliver transformative change and take a consistent approach to shipbuilding.

National Shipbuilding Office: Civil Servants

Maria Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many civil servants in the National Shipbuilding Office are based in (a) London, (b) Edinburgh and (c) elsewhere.

James Cartlidge: The National Shipbuilding Office (NSO) employ 26 staff. All staff are based in London with the exception of a secondee in Scotland and one employee who is a home worker. The NSO is a hybrid organisation and all roles are advertised as being based in either Edinburgh or London in combination with remote working. Whilst the NSO currently has no staff members permanently based in Edinburgh the flexible desk space is used during regular meetings and engagement activities in Scotland.

Warships

Maria Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps he is taking to ensure the adequacy of the supply of vessels for use by the armed forces in the next 25 years.

James Cartlidge: The National Shipbuilding Strategy is a mechanism for providing clarity to industry on future shipbuilding requirements for the Royal Navy (RN). The RN works closely with the National Shipbuilding Office and Defence Equipment and Support to ensure that the Government's relationship with industry is optimised to deliver ship-building requirements.

AUKUS: Submarines

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what combat system will be used on the SSN-AUKUS submarines that will enter service with the Royal Navy.

James Cartlidge: The AUKUS partners are developing a collaborative SSN-AUKUS combat system which will be deployed on Royal Navy and Royal Australian Navy SSNs. Although the detailed design has yet to be finalised, this will be developed trilaterally to leverage the best technology available.

Armed Forces: Sexual Offences

Maria Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 13 November 2023 to Question 70 on Defence: Recruitment, how many people have been disciplined for (a) a relationship between instructors and trainees, (b) sexual offences and (c) unacceptable sexual behaviour since the introduction of the new Armed Forces policies in 2022.

Dr Andrew Murrison: Defence has made it clear there is zero tolerance to any form of unacceptable sexual behaviour, and this includes sexual offences. Under the Ministry of Defence’s Zero Tolerance Part One (Sexual Offences and Instructor/Trainee Relationships) policy, for all Service People who are convicted of a sexual offence, or who are placed on the Sex Offenders Register there is a mandatory presumption of discharge from the Armed Forces. Similarly, for Zero Tolerance Part Two (Unacceptable Sexual Behaviour – A Victim/Survivor Focused Approach), there is a presumption of discharge for those found in breach of this policy.The Defence Serious Crime Unit, formed in December 2022, has the jurisdiction to investigate the most serious and complex crimes alleged to have been committed by persons subject to service law in both the UK and overseas, including sexual offences, domestic abuse and offences of violence. Up to 30 September 2023;a) two instructors have been found to have engaged in sexual relationships with trainees. Both have been discharged. b) two Service personnel have been administratively discharged under the ‘zero tolerance to sexual offending’ policy following their conviction for a sexual offence. This is in addition to 14 who have been dismissed by the Court Martial following conviction for sexual offences. c) 14 Service personnel have been discharged for unacceptable sexual behaviour under the ‘zero tolerance to unacceptable sexual behaviour’ policy.

Ministry of Defence: Public Relations

Maria Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how much his Department spent on press and public relations in each financial year since 2019-20.

Dr Andrew Murrison: The Directorate of Defence Communications (DDC) is responding as the lead communications department within the Ministry of Defence. The table below shows the expenditure on press and public relations by DDC during the period requested. Financial YearTotal £2019-20482,0542020-21444,6882021-22425,6992022-23617,7962023-24360,828

Ministry of Defence: Public Relations

Maria Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many press and public relations staff were employed by his Department in each year since 2019.

Dr Andrew Murrison: The current number of media relations officers (press officers) within the Directorate of Defence Communications, the central lead for Defence Communications within the MOD for the years requested is shown in the table below by financial year. Data for staff employed by the Department in a public relations role is not held centrally and could only be provided at disproportionate cost. FYDDC Media Relation Officers2018-19182019-20182020-21172021-22182022-23152023-2415

Members: Correspondence

Maria Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 23 November 2023 to Question 2501 on Ministry of Defence: Bullying and Discrimination, when he plans to send the letter to the Rt hon. Member for Garston and Halewood.

Dr Andrew Murrison: A written response to your Questions 2501, 2502 and 2779 will be provided and a copy of the letter will be placed in the Library of The House. I apologise to the hon. Member for the time taken.

Ministry of Defence Police: Recruitment

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many Ministry of Defence Police officers (a) were recruited and (b) left the Force in each year since 2010.

Dr Andrew Murrison: Due to changes in data management processes, and moving the Ministry of Defence Police (MDP) headquarters to RAF Wyton, we can only provide figures from 2018-19 onwards. MDP Officer joiners and leavers in each year, to 31 March, are as follows:  201920202021202220232024*Joiners27540432224825387Leavers286.5266.53190.79311.05353.98183 * As at 31 October 2023

National Shipbuilding Office

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 5 December 2023 to Question 3711 on National Shipbuilding Office, on what dates the (a) formal and (b) informal meetings took place since September 2021.

James Cartlidge: The Shipbuilding Tsar has met with the Chief Executive Officer of the National Shipbuilding Office on over 30 occasions since September 2021.

Afghanistan: Refugees

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many military bases are being used to house Afghans; and how many Afghans are housed in each base.

James Heappey: Three military bases at MOD Garats Hay, MOD Synnerton, and MOD Nesscliffe are being used as transitional accommodation for ARAP-eligible Afghans before they move into settled accommodation. At the time of writing, there are 190 Afghans in Garats Hay, 100 in Swynnerton, and 216 in Nesscliffe.As these sites are used as transitional accommodation, these numbers will fluctuate and there will not be a consistent figure.

RAF Akrotiri

Kenny MacAskill: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether the US military notifies UK authorities of the cargo contained in US Air Force flights (a) landing and (b) departing from RAF Akrotiri.

James Heappey: We engage closely with international partners and allies to ensure all parties' use of UK bases are in line with required safety processes and protocols.

Israel: Military Aid

Kenny MacAskill: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether any components for military equipment have been provided to Israel since 7 October 2023.

James Heappey: As confirmed in Parliament on 4 December 2023, the UK Government has provided no military equipment to Israel since 7 October 2023.

Israel: Military Aid

Kenny MacAskill: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 4 December 2023 to Question 4277 on Israel: Military Aid, if he will list the (a) type and (b) quantity of medical supplies that have been provided to Israel since 7 October 2023.

James Heappey: In line with our approach of providing life-saving medical supplies in response to requests from other governments around the world, the UK has provided to Israel:· 40 defibrillators · 70 pieces of equipment for warming blood when it is being transfused into a patient · Boxes for carrying blood supplies · Intraosseous needles and drivers (emergency equipment for administering a blood transfusion to someone in extremis) · Supplies for treating bleeding wounds, limb trauma and open chest wounds, for example from gunshots · Warming blankets · Syringe drivers (for administering intravenous medications) · 100 suction units (top-end medical kit for clearing a patient's airway from fluids) · 130 units of Lyoplas (freeze dried plasma that can be reconstituted with water and used as a blood product transfusion) · Equipment for intubating patients (putting an airway into their lungs) · 100 pelvic binders (equipment for stabilising a fractured pelvis)

Saudi Arabia: Military Aircraft

Mr Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what progress he has made on the Partnering Feasibility Study with Saudi Arabia.

James Cartlidge: In March 2023, the UK and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) signed a Statement of Intent (SOI) which initiated a Partnering Feasibility Study to explore how we can best position our decades long combat air relationship for the future. Since then, significant engagement has continued between the two countries, and the output of the study will inform agreement of next steps.

Armed Forces: Internet

Mr Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, when the recruitment websites for the armed forces were last updated.

Dr Andrew Murrison: The Armed Forces’ recruitment websites are updated continually, as required. Royal Navy:The website went live with a new mobile-first design in November 2023. Army:The website was significantly refreshed in February 2023. Royal Air Force:The website was significantly refreshed in August 2023.

Armed Forces: Health

Mr Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many armed forces personnel who undertook regular fitness tests in 2022 were (a) found to be unfit and (b) had their service discontinued in the same year.

Dr Andrew Murrison: It is taking time to collate the required information to answer the hon. Member's Questions. I will write to him when the information is available, and a copy of this letter will be placed in the Library of The House.

China and Russia: Railways

Mr Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether he has had discussions with his Ukrainian counterpart on the reported attack and disablement of one of the main railway lines linking Russia and China.

James Heappey: The Secretary of State for Defence regularly holds discussions with Defence Minister Umerov on a range of issues.

Procurement: Slavery

Maria Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps his Department takes to verify the anti-slavery declarations made by companies within the defence supply chain that have procurement contracts with his Department.

James Cartlidge: All defence contracts are subject to Government level guidance regarding the tackling of modern slavery in Government supply chains, the Ministry of Defence (MOD) has also created supplementary guidance to bolster our approach. Current policy sets the expectation that all MOD suppliers comply with the Modern Slavery Act 2015. To support the verification of this, the government wide Modern Slavery Assessment Tool (MSAT) is used by major suppliers to assess their risk exposure and identify areas of weakness for further action. The MOD has access to this tool and can view the results of this assessment once completed.

Supply Chains: Forced Labour

Maria Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps he is taking to work with international defence partners in tackling potential security risks associated with forced labour in defence supply chains.

James Cartlidge: The Ministry of Defence requires all of its suppliers to comply with anti-slavery legislation, regardless of their location.

China: Forced Labour

Maria Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether he has made an assessment of the implications for his policies of reports linking Army solar panels to claims of forced labour in China.

James Cartlidge: The Government is committed to tackling the scourge of modern slavery and takes allegations such as these very seriously. Ministry of Defence (MOD) policy requires us to scrutinise our supply chain to ensure that the MOD does not procure equipment from any supplier that cannot robustly demonstrate they have a supply chain free of forced labour.

Department for Work and Pensions

Work Capability Assessment

Marion Fellows: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether income-related ESA claimants who are re-assessed upon moving to Universal Credit through Managed Migration after 2025 will be subject to the existing or new Work Capability Assessment.

Jo Churchill: There is no automatic referral for reassessment for customers at the point that they move from Employment Support Allowance (ESA) to Universal Credit (UC). If a customer has an existing ESA Work Capability Assessment decision, they will not be required to have another assessment in order to get the health-related additions of Universal Credit, unless their health condition has changed.

Visual Impairment: Jobcentres

Vicky Foxcroft: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many blind and partially-sighted people accessed Jobcentres in the most recent period for which data is available.

Vicky Foxcroft: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many (a) deaf people and (b) people with hearing loss accessed Jobcentres in the most recent period for which data is available.

Vicky Foxcroft: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many British sign language users accessed Jobcentres in the most recent period for which data is available.

Jo Churchill: The information requested cannot be provided because it is not collated centrally.

Social Security Benefits: Disability

Vicky Foxcroft: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what support his Department provides to people who are waiting for (a) trauma, (b) joint replacement and (c) other orthopaedic treatment who have to give up their jobs until they receive that treatment.

Vicky Foxcroft: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what support his Department provides to people who are waiting for (a) trauma, (b) joint replacement and (c) other orthopaedic treatment who are unable to live independently until they receive that treatment.

Jo Churchill: Benefits and support for people with a health condition or disability are not condition-based. Eligibility will depend on the claimant’s individual circumstances, and needs, including work history where relevant.

Wind Power: Fire Prevention

Kenny MacAskill: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for the Home Department on ensuring fire safety in (a) onshore and (b) offshore wind farms.

Mims Davies: Although Cabinet members hold frequent discussions on a wide range of policy areas, including renewable energy policy, the Health and Safety Executive is not aware of any specific discussions regarding fire safety on (a) onshore and (b) offshore windfarms.

Wind Power: Fire Prevention

Kenny MacAskill: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, which Government body is responsible for fire safety in offshore wind farms.

Mims Davies: The law requires businesses operating renewable energy developments to have arrangements for evacuation, escape, recovery and rescue to prevent any risk of harm to persons working at those developments, including risks from fire. The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) and the Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) are the regulatory authorities for those legal requirements at offshore renewable energy developments.

Social Security Benefits: Disqualification

Vicky Foxcroft: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what data his Department holds on the number of sanctioned benefits claimants who have subsequently found long-term employment.

Jo Churchill: The information requested is not readily available and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost.

Remote Working: Vacancies

Stephen McPartland: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many and what proportion of the jobs advertised on his Department's Find a job website are listed as being fully remote as of 1 December 2023.

Jo Churchill: We do not hold data on the number of vacancies which offer home or hybrid working. We are exploring how to improve the service to help jobseekers identify vacancies by this criterion. We are working to ensure that individuals have tailored personal support in order to make the most of their talents, for some this will mean remote working for some hybrid and for others face to face.

Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities

Department For Levelling Up, Housing And Communities: Incentives

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, pursuant to the Answer of 4 December 2023 to Question 4366 on Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities: Incentives, by what means the figure for non-cash vouchers requested in that question can be determined from his Department's usual publication of non-consolidated performance related pay.

Simon Hoare: Non-cash payments made during 2022-23 will be captured as part of overall spend on non-consolidated performance related payments, which is due for publication before the end of the current financial year. Once that is published, requests for further breakdowns of data can be made, in the usual way.

Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities: Recruitment

Jonathan Ashworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, how much his Department spent on external recruitment consultants in the (a) 2020-21, (b) 2021-22 and (c) 2022-23 financial year.

Simon Hoare: This information is not held centrally and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.

Electoral Register: Wales

Helen Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what discussions he has had with the Welsh Government on its plans to trial Automatic Voter Registration.

Helen Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, when he last made an assessment of the potential merits of Automatic Voter Registration as a means of improving the accuracy of the electoral register.

Helen Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, whether he has made an assessment of the potential role of Automatic Voter Registration in registering UK citizens abroad.

Helen Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, whether his Department has had discussions with the (a) Electoral Commission and (b) Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office on the potential merits of an information campaign targeted at UK citizens living overseas to encourage them to register to vote.

Simon Hoare: In 2014, the then Coalition introduced Individual Electoral Registration. The Government has no plans to reassess its policy with regard to automatic voter registration for resident UK citizens or for registering UK citizens living abroad. The electoral system in the United Kingdom is trust based and voting is not mandatory. The Government opposes automatic voter registration because such a system would risk increasing errors and inaccuracies in the registers.The Government understands that the Welsh Government is planning to trial automatic registration for devolved elections and will be paying close attention to any unintended or negative effects on registration for reserved elections.The UK Government is working with the Electoral Commission to amplify its messaging to increase awareness of the forthcoming removal of the 15-year limit on British citizens’ living abroad and their eligibility to register and vote in UK Parliamentary elections.

Housing: Solar Power

Sir Bernard Jenkin: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, whether he has received representations on the practice of house builders prohibiting in perpetuity new homeowners from installing solar panels on their homes.

Lee Rowley: I am grateful to my Hon Friend for bringing correspondence about housebuilders prohibiting the fitting of solar panels post-sale to my attention. Renewable energy, such as that generated from solar panels, will contribute to the objective of getting to net zero, so we are grateful for you flagging this concern. The Department will review this matter further.

Levelling Up Fund: County Durham

Grahame Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, for what reason County Durham was not selected as a Priority Place for Levelling Up Fund Round 3.

Jacob Young: For Round 3, funding was targeted to places assessed in need through the Levelling Up Needs metrics, which take into account skills, pay, productivity and health. These metrics draw on the extensive evidence base of what matters for levelling up, as set out in the Levelling Up White Paper, and represent our most up to date assessment of levelling up need. Further details of the selection methodology for Round 3 are set out in the published LUF R3 Explanatory and Methodology Note on Gov.uk.County Durham has been awarded funding from multiple levelling up funds, including £146,000 from the Community Ownership Fund; £20 million from the Long-Term Plan for Towns; £836,000 from the Community Renewal Fund; £19 million from the Future High Streets Fund; £33 million from the Town Deal; £85,000 from the Levelling Up Parks Fund; and £11 million from the UK Shared Prosperity Fund. They were also awarded £20 million from round 1 of the Levelling Up Fund for the Bishop Auckland project, and £1.9 million in round 2 as part of the Transport Decarbonisation in the North East project.

Multiple Occupation: Electrical Safety

Mary Kelly Foy: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of local authority enforcement of electrical safety standards in houses in multiple occupation in (a) County Durham and (b) England since 2021.

Jacob Young: All house in multiple occupation (HMO) licences in England require the landlord to ensure that every electrical installation in the house is in proper working order and safe for use. Landlords are also required to supply their local authority with a declaration as to the safety of such installations when requested. Where a landlord fails to comply, local authorities have power to take enforcement action, including prosecution or issuing fines of up to £30,000.

Tenants: Social Security Benefits

Helen Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what steps he is taking to help reduce indirect discrimination against prospective housing tenants in receipt of benefits.

Jacob Young: Discrimination against prospective tenants in receipt of benefits has no place in a fair and modern housing market. The Government has introduced measures to the Renters (Reform) Bill at Commons Committee which outlaw the use of blanket bans. Landlords and agents will be prevented from discriminating directly or indirectly during the letting process.

Multiple Occupation: County Durham

Mary Kelly Foy: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, how many registered houses in multiple occupation there are in County Durham.

Jacob Young: The Government publishes the Local Authority Housing Statistics annually. These statistics include the estimated number of houses in multiple occupation (HMOs) and estimated number of HMOs which require mandatory licences, broken down by local authority. The data sets can be found here.

Levelling Up Fund: Culture

Ian Murray: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what his planned timescale is for announcing the selection methodology for culture projects in Round 3 of the Levelling Up Fund.

Jacob Young: We recognise the important role that culture can play in levelling up. That is why we have set aside £100 million for culture through the third round of the Levelling Up Fund. Further details of this funding will be announced in due course.

Planning Permission

Duncan Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, when he plans to announce funding levels for local planning authorities to help tackle planning backlogs.

Lee Rowley: Local councils are responsible for ensuring that they build skills pipelines in their area to discharge their responsibilities. We recognise, however, that there have been challenges in recent years in plan and so, on a temporary basis, the Government is providing additional funds.The £24 million Planning Skills Delivery Fund will help local authorities to recruit, retain and upskill planners to build a more sustainable planning system for the benefit of communities by helping local planning authorities clear planning backlogs and get the skills in place that they need to respond to changes in the planning system. This has been supplemented at Autumn Statement by an additional £5 million to clear the planning applications backlog.We will announce the successful local authorities who applied for funding as part of the year one application process shortly.

Department for Science, Innovation and Technology

Land Registry: Blockchain

Alun Cairns: To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, pursuant to the Answer of 21 November 2023 to Question 2866 on Land Registry: Blockchain, what steps she is taking to overcome the regulatory uncertainty associated with blockchain technologies.

Saqib Bhatti: The Government is committed to creating a regulatory environment in which firms can innovate, while maintaining financial stability and clear regulatory standards so that people can use new blockchain technologies both reliably and safely.Cryptoasset markets, for example, continue to develop with increasing pace and complexity, which brings risk as well as opportunity. Risk-taking is a part of the innovation cycle, however ongoing turbulence in the cryptoasset markets has highlighted some of the implications for markets and investors. We think this reinforces the case for clear, effective, timely regulation. The Government is therefore proposing to bring a broad suite of new cryptoasset activities into the regulatory perimeter for financial services for the first time. This includes exchange activities, custody and lending.HM Treasury launched a consultation on the Future Financial Services Regulatory Regime for Cryptoassets in February and published its response to stakeholder feedback and final proposals on 30 October. The consultation delivers on the Government’s commitment to bring forward proposals for regulating activities relating to the trading and investment of cryptoassets, such as Bitcoin.The Government has already taken action to address risks to consumers and market integrity in cryptoasset markets. Cryptoassets were brought into scope of UK anti-money laundering legislation in 2020, and following the government’s legislation, the financial regulator has commenced enforcement for cryptoassets financial promotions, requiring them to be fair, clear and not misleading.More broadly, my department will continue to monitor developments in the use of blockchain technology and will work with other government departments to identify where this could require the introduction of further regulation.

Land Registry: Blockchain

Alun Cairns: To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, pursuant to the Answer of 27 November 2023 to Question 2866, whether she plans to take steps to further roll out the use of blockchain technologies.

Saqib Bhatti: This Government is committed to maximising the benefits and minimising the risks of new technologies. The Government has committed to increasing public expenditure on R&D to £20 billion per annum by 2024/2025. This cash increase will support the growth of innovator hubs and continue to fund a range of R&D programmes which will help boost the potential of new technologies including blockchain.My department will continue to monitor the development of distributed ledger technology to ensure we maximise its potential to spur UK growth and innovation.

Semiconductors: Foreign Investment in UK

Liam Byrne: To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what assessment she has made of the implications for her policies of investments made by Beijing Jianguang Asset Management Co. Ltd in the UK semiconductor supply chain.

Saqib Bhatti: A reliable supply of semiconductors is essential to the UK economy, enabling everything from the energy network to our communications infrastructure. The Government supports foreign direct investment into the sector, but where necessary will not hesitate to take action to prevent national security risks using the full range of levers available, including the National Security and Investment Act.

Technology: Finance

Matt Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, if she will provide a breakdown of the planned cross-government expenditure from (a) Departments and (b) arms-length bodies on (i) artificial intelligence, (ii) quantum technologies, (iii) engineering biology, (iv) semiconductors and (v) future telecommunications until financial year 2024-25.

Andrew Griffith: The government set out 5 critical technologies in the Science and Technology Framework, committing to develop a cross-government plan to optimise the science and technology system for each. We have publicly set out our approach to each critical technology, including spending commitments, which for most technologies cover figures for all departments. The government has spent over £2.5bn on AI since 2014. Over the next 10 years we have announced £2.5 billion for quantum technologies, up to £1bn on semiconductors and £2bn for engineering biology. The government has initially committed £70m on Future Telecoms by end of FY 2024/2025.

STEM Subjects: Employment

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, pursuant to the Answer of 5 December 2023 to Question 3808 on STEM Subjects: Employment, what steps he is taking to promote diversity in the private sector STEM workforce.

Andrew Griffith: DSIT continues to work closely with other departments, including DfE, to ensure that the UK has the skilled and diverse workforce needed to sustain our global science superpower ambitions. The Government through UK Research and Innovation supports STEM Ambassadors, a nationwide network of over 30,000 volunteers from a wide range of employers, who engage with a diversity of young people to provide stimulating and inspirational activities to increase their interest in STEM subjects and the range of careers that STEM qualifications offer.

Science: Research

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, whether her Department is (a) conducting research on and (b) funding metascience.

Andrew Griffith: The government’s November 2023 ‘Response to the Independent Review of the RDI Organisational Landscape’ announced the creation of a new Metascience Unit, jointly run across Department for Science, Innovation and Technology and UK Research and Innovation (UKRI), with an initial funding commitment of £10m. The unit will deliver a competitive grants programme and will also conduct experiments to test and robustly evaluate the effectiveness of changes in the funding processes delivered by UKRI.

Satellite Applications Catapult

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, with reference to the National Space Strategy published on 27 September 2021, what support she is providing to the Satellite Applications Catapult.

Andrew Griffith: The National Space Strategy, published in 2021, set out how the Satellite Applications Catapult would support commercialisation and translation of space technologies in the UK by providing access to world-leading facilities, skills, and equipment.In the Autumn Statement 2022, the Government confirmed funding of £1.6 billion for the UK's nine Catapults  for the next five years, from April 2023 to March 2028, which is a 35 per cent increase compared to the previous five years of funding.The Satellite Applications Catapult core grant funding figures for 2018-2023 are as follows: Core funding by Catapult (FY18/19 – FY22/23)2018/192019/202020/212021/222022/23Total £m£m£m£m£m£mSatellite Applications11.0012.0011.9015.2018.4068.50

Home Office

Visas: Skilled Workers

Neil O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many (a) people and (b) dependents came to the UK on a skilled worker visa with a salary of less than less than £26,200 in each of the last five years.

Tom Pursglove: The Home Office publishes data on visas in the ‘Immigration Statistics Quarterly Release’. Data on the number of work routes applications granted are published in table Vis_D02 of the Entry clearance visas applications and outcomes detailed dataset. The Home Office does not publish the information on the salary of work routes, however a Regulatory Impact Assessment will be developed in due course.Information on how to use the dataset can be found in the ‘Notes’ page of the workbook.The latest data relates up to, and including, 2023 Q3 (July to September).Information on future Home Office statistical release dates can be found in the ‘Research and statistics calendar’.

Home Office: ICT

Matt Rodda: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 29 November 2023 to Question 3660 on Home Office: ICT, if he will publish details of the four red-rated legacy systems.

Chris Philp: The information held about Red Rated Systems is sensitive for both commercial and security reasons.Each legacy system in the department is closely monitored and has a remediation programme in place to mitigate or completely remove the legacy elements.

Migrant Workers: Skilled Workers

Neil O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many people came to the UK as skilled workers by salary in the last 12 months.

Neil O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many people came to the UK on all work routes by salary in the last 12 months.

Tom Pursglove: The Home Office publishes data on visas in the ‘Immigration Statistics Quarterly Release’. Data on the number of work routes applications granted and skilled worker routes applications granted are published in table Vis_D02 of the Entry clearance visas applications and outcomes detailed dataset. The Home Office does not publish the information on the salary of work routes, however a Regulatory Impact Assessment will be developed in due course. Information on how to use the dataset can be found in the ‘Notes’ page of the workbook. The latest data relates up to, and including, 2023 Q3 (July to September).Information on future Home Office statistical release dates can be found in the ‘Research and statistics calendar’.

Visas: Care Workers

Dame Diana Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many and what proportion of (a) care workers and (b) senior care workers issued a health and care worker visa were (i) female and (ii) male in each of the last five years.

Tom Pursglove: The Home Office publishes data on sponsored work visas by occupation in the ‘Immigration Statistics Quarterly Release’. Data on grants of visas are published in table ‘Occ_D02’ of the sponsored work visas by occupation and industry dataset. Selecting ‘6145 – Care workers and home carers’ and ‘6146 – Senior care workers’ from the occupation filter will output data on care workers and senior care workers respectively. Selecting ‘Skilled Worker – Health and Care’ will also output data on health and care worker visas. Nationality and time frames can also be filtered. Information on how to use the dataset can be found in the ‘Notes’ page of the workbook. Data is from January 2021 up to the end of September 2023. We are unable to provide a gender breakdown in the published dataset.

Visas: Care Workers

Dame Diana Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many visas were granted to associated dependants of care workers who were under the age of 18 in the year ending September 2023.

Tom Pursglove: The Home Office does not publish the information on the number of associate dependents for care worker applications granted who were under the age of 18 in the year ending September 2023, as the Home Office does not publish breakdowns by occupation and dependents are not categorised by age within the data. The Home Office publishes data on visas in the ‘Immigration Statistics Quarterly Release’. Data on the number of dependents for Health and Care applications granted, are published in table Vis_D02 of the Entry clearance visas applications and outcomes detailed dataset. Information on how to use the dataset can be found in the ‘Notes’ page of the workbook. The latest data relates up to, and including, 2023 Q3 (July to September). Information on future Home Office statistical release dates can be found in the ‘Research and statistics calendar’.

Visas: Families

Stuart C McDonald: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to his oral contribution of 4 December 2023, Official Report, column 41, on what evidential basis his Department decided to set a minimum salary threshold for skilled worker visas at £38,700; whether his Department held discussions with (a) the Migration Advisory Committee and (b) relevant stakeholders before changing the minimum salary threshold for skilled worker visas; and if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of setting a lower threshold.

Tom Pursglove: The Government engages regularly with the Migration Advisory Committee (MAC) and business sectors through a number of advisory groups when developing its policies. The Government will be engaging with the MAC and business on aspects of the package in due course. Careful analysis has been undertaken to support decision making in this process and a Regulatory Impact Assessment will be developed in due course.

Visas: Care Workers

Dame Diana Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether his Department has made a comparative assessment of the potential impact of the ban on overseas care workers bringing their dependents to the UK on (a) women and (b) men.

Dame Diana Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the oral statement of the Secretary of State for the Home Department on legal migration of 4 December 2023, Official Report, column 41, whether his Department conducted an equality impact assessment of his policies on reducing net migration.

Tom Pursglove: The policy proposals do not directly discriminate against people on the basis of the protected characteristics. There may be some indirect impacts. We consider the measures to be proportionate means of achieving the legitimate aims of managing immigration, attracting high-skilled individuals, controlling our borders and protecting the UK taxpayer.

Home Office: Non-departmental Public Bodies

Charlotte Nichols: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what his timescales are for conducting the next triennial review of the Home Office Science Advisory Non-Departmental Public Bodies.

Chris Philp: The former programmes of Triennial Reviews and Tailored Reviews have been replaced by the Public Bodies Review Programme.Public Bodies Reviews are designed to focus on those bodies of highest risk as determined by a department's Principal Accounting Officer and ministers.No Home Office Science NDPBs have been prioritised for review in 2022/23, or 2023/24. The programme for future years has not been decided.

Hedgehogs: Animal Welfare

Sir John Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many people have been (a) charged and (b) prosecuted for alleged criminal offences involving the abuse of hedgehogs in each of the last five years.

Chris Philp: The Home Office collects and publishes information about notifiable crimes and their investigative outcomes from the police in England and Wales. This includes Wildlife offences but those involving the abuse of hedgehogs are not separately identifiable in the data we hold centrally.Information on the number of prosecutions for such offences is published by the Ministry of Justice and can be found in their Outcomes by Offence Data tool here:https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/criminal-justice-system-statistics-quarterly-december-2022This information will also only be available at offence level, and it will not separately identify offences involving the abuse of hedgehogs.

Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs

Charlotte Nichols: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, when he expects the annual reviews of the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs for (a) 2019-20, (b) 2020-21, (c) 2021-22 and (d) 2022-23 to be published.

Chris Philp: As the ACMD is an independent Non-Departmental Public Body (NDPB), sponsored by the Home Office, the publication of its annual reports is a matter for the ACMD.

Criminal Investigation: USA

Mr Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the Treaty between the Government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the Government of the United States of America on Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters with Exchange of Notes, signed in January 1994, how many times information was requested on individuals then resident in the UK between 1998 and 2022.

Chris Philp: The Home Office is the central authority for Mutual Legal Assistance for England, Wales and Northern Ireland except for tax and fiscal customs criminal matters, which are coordinated by HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC). Requests seeking assistance solely from Scotland are sent directly to the Crown Office in Edinburgh.Information on the number of times information was requested on individuals then resident in the UK between 1998 and 2022 made under the 1994 Treaty is not recorded by the Home Office.

Diamorphine: Clinics

Grahame Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 4 December 2023 to Question 4319 on Diamorphine: Clinics, how many licenses have been obtained from his Department for the provision of Diamorphine Assisted Treatment in each of the last five years.

Chris Philp: Home Office domestic controlled drug premises licences are issued by the Drugs and Firearms Licensing Unit (DFLU) to organisations for activities at individual premises in Great Britain. Licences are valid for a period of one year from the date of issue.Organisations wishing to provide Heroin Assisted Treatment (HAT), also referred to as Diamorphine Assisted Treatment, may also provide other treatment programmes involving controlled drugs, and in such cases they would apply for one licence for that premises for all services rather than a specific licence solely for HAT provision. Aggregate data on the number of each type of service expected to be delivered under Home Office licences issued is not routinely collected.The below data provide estimates based on internal management information which has not been subject to quality assurance or audit, and therefore can only provide an indication of the numbers of licences where a HAT service is provided.An indication of the number of licences including a HAT service, issued from 6 December 2018, up to and including 5 December 2023, is as follows:2019-22020-12021-32022-32023- 2

Biometric Residence Permits: Standards

Seema Malhotra: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many Biometric Residence Permits have been affected by technical issues in the last 12 months.

Tom Pursglove: The information is not available publicly and could only be obtained at a disproportionate cost.

Visas: India

Navendu Mishra: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 5 December 2023 to Question 3994 on Visas: India, what the standard service level is; and what time period his Answer refers to.

Tom Pursglove: The global service level is for UK visa appointments to be available within five working days. The average waiting time for a visa appointment at UK Visa Application Centres in India was three days throughout November 2023.

Visas: Families

Stuart C McDonald: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether he has made an impact assessment of the rise in income thresholds for spouse and other family visas to £38,700.

Tom Pursglove: The government will publish an impact assessment on these changes in due course.

Overseas Students: Employment

Mr Nicholas Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether he has made an assessment of the potential merits of increasing the number of hours that people on student visas can work.

Tom Pursglove: The Student route is primarily for study, not for work, but many students can work up to 20 hours per week during term time and full time outside of term time.We currently have no plans to increase these working hour limits. They ensure the route is not being used as a backdoor to the UK’s labour market and protects the UK’s reputation for educational excellence.

Visas: Families

Stuart C McDonald: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to his Statement of 4 November 2023 on Legal Migration, Official Report column 42, what the evidential basis was for setting the income threshold for spouse and family visas at £38,700; and whether he sought (a) advice from the Migration Advisory Committee and (b) other independent advice before setting that threshold.

Stuart C McDonald: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to his Oral Statement to the House on 4 December 2023, Official Report, column 41, on what evidential basis his Department decided to set a minimum income threshold for family visas at £38,700; whether his Department held discussions with (a) Migration Advisory Committee and (b) stakeholders before changing the minimum income threshold for family visas; and if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of setting a lower threshold.

Stuart C McDonald: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, on what date he plans to bring into force the increase in financial threshold for family visas to £38,700; and whether people who apply before the new threshold comes into force will have the existing threshold applied to them if their application has not been decided before the date of the threshold increase.

Tom Pursglove: The government will publish an impact assessment on these changes in due course. The Migration Advisory Committee was not asked to provide further advice related to this change as previous advice and evidence provided by the Migration Advisory Committee was already available and considered.

Visas: Families

Liz Saville Roberts: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what his Department's policy is on the applicability of the £38,700 skilled worker earnings threshold for people who are (a) in possession of and (b) already applying for a UK visa from Spring 2024.

Tom Pursglove: The Government will set out transitional arrangements, in due course, for people issued Skilled Worker visas before the salary changes announced on 4 December 2023 come into force.

Visas: Families

Liz Saville Roberts: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what his Department's policy is on the applicability of the minimum income of £38,700 for family visas for people (a) with and (b) already applying for such a visa from Spring 2024.

Tom Pursglove: The Government will set out any transitional provisions associated with the increase in the minimum income requirement in due course. Any applications already submitted will be considered in line with the existing policy.

Refugees: Homelessness

Kim Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of her Department's move-on period for asylum seekers to find new accommodation after being granted refugee status on trends in the level of homelessness.

Kim Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of her Department's move-on period for asylum seekers to find new accommodation after being granted refugee status on the number of refugees.

Tom Pursglove: An individual remains eligible for asylum support for a prescribed period from the day they are notified of the decision on their asylum claim. Where someone is given notice that their asylum claim has been granted, their appeal has been allowed or their asylum claim has been refused but they have been given leave to enter or remain, the prescribed period in legislation is 28 days. There has been no change to the prescribed period. Individuals should make plans to move on from asylum support as quickly as possible. We offer support through Migrant Help or their partner organisation in doing this. This includes providing advice on accessing the labour market, on applying for Universal Credit and signposting to local authorities for assistance with housing. Newly recognised refugees are entitled to housing assistance from their local authority and are treated as a priority need if they have children or are considered vulnerable. Individuals do not need to wait for their BRP to make a claim for benefits and are encouraged to do so as early as possible if they require them. We are ensuring our cross government partners, such as the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) and the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC) are sighted on data to enable them to consider the impacts of increased decision making and effectively plan.  We are also working with DLUHC to ensure the right asylum decision data is being shared with local authorities to enable effective planning and to lessen the impact on existing homelessness and rough sleeping pressures. Our accommodation providers are directly working with local authorities to notify them when an individual is due to have their asylum support ended.

Asylum: Children

Sir Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the correspondence of 5 April 2023 from the Children’s Commissioner to the Secretary of State entitled Statutory information request on Home Office accommodation of children seeking asylum, on how many of the variables listed in the data summary his Department holds data for unaccompanied asylum-seeking children.

Tom Pursglove: In relation to the Children’s Commissioners correspondence, for unaccompanied asylum-seeking children (UASC) who have been accommodated in hotels, the Home Office holds data on all variables outlined in the ‘data request summary’ excluding variable 8 and 23.There were elements of the data requested which were not held in an electronically retrievable form and would have required the manual check of over 5,000 records. The Home Office were unable to provide all of the data as it would have required a high level of manual resource to obtain at a time of high operation demands. The Home Office did reach out to the Children’s Commissioners office in May 2023 to offer an alternative option to enable the commissioner to review children’s records, although this offer was turned down.

Asylum: Northern Ireland

Claire Hanna: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many and what proportion of asylum claimants categorised as legacy and residing in Northern Ireland are awaiting a decision.

Tom Pursglove: The Home Office publishes data on asylum claims and support in the ‘Immigration System Statistics Quarterly Release’. Data on legacy and flow cases are published in tables Asy_10a and Asy_10b of the ‘Asylum and resettlement summary tables’. Please note that the Home Office does not publish data on these cases by support status, region or local authority. The Home Office publishes certain asylum information by local authority. Data on asylum seekers in receipt of support (whilst awaiting a decision) by local authority can be found in table Asy_D11 of the ‘Asylum and resettlement local authority data’ detailed datasets. Asylum seekers are accommodated in Northern Ireland only if they apply for asylum there. Please note that this data does not include individuals not in receipt of support and is not broken down by legacy / flow application status. Information on how to use the dataset can be found in the ‘Notes’ page of the workbook. The latest data relates to 30 September 2023. Information on future Home Office statistical release dates can be found in the ‘Research and statistics calendar’.

Attorney General

Theft: Northern Ireland

Jim Shannon: To ask the Attorney General, what discussions she has had with the Public Prosecution Service in Northern Ireland on increasing conviction rates for (a) theft and (b) burglary.

Victoria Prentis: The Public Prosecution Service in Northern Ireland (PPSNI) is entirely independent and is not superintended by the Attorney General.The Attorney General, as Advocate General for Northern Ireland, has limited statutory functions in relation to the PPSNI and the performance of the PPSNI does not fall within this remit.

Attorney General: Recruitment

Jonathan Ashworth: To ask the Attorney General, how much the Attorney General's Office spent on external recruitment consultants in each of the financial years (a) 2020-21, (b) 2021-22, and (c) 2022-23.

Victoria Prentis: The Attorney General’s Office spent £12,245 in financial year 2020-21, £0 in financial year 2021-22, and £1,470 in financial year 2022-23 on external recruitment consultants.

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

Packaging: Recycling

Alex Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if his Department will undertake an impact assessment of the cumulative impact of extended producer responsibility, the Deposit Return Scheme, and the Packaging Recovery Note system on the brewing and hospitality sector.

Robbie Moore: Final Impact Assessments will be published for the Deposit Return Scheme (DRS) to allow us to update the analysis to accurately reflect the January 2023 government response, and for extended producer responsibility for packaging (pEPR). These impact assessments will assess the impact on businesses which includes these sectors.

Waste Management: Business

Ruth Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many and what proportion of the large businesses that responded to the consultation entitled Improving food waste reporting by large food businesses in England were in favour of mandatory waste reporting by large businesses.

Robbie Moore: 46 respondents to the consultation on Improved food waste reporting were large businesses. 30 large businesses (65%) were in favour of introducing mandatory food waste reporting for large businesses.

Packaging: Recycling

Alex Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if his Department will publish detailed delivery plans for (a) Extended Producer Responsibility, (b) Consistent Collections, and (c) the Deposit Return Scheme.

Robbie Moore: An updated, outward facing roadmap for these reforms will be shared with impacted stakeholders early next year. This sits alongside a comprehensive stakeholder communications and engagement approach which includes monthly delivery forums and a fortnightly newsletter to ensure access to detailed delivery information.

Thames Water

Munira Wilson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, when his Department plans to issue a decision on Thames Water’s revised draft Water Resources Management Plan.

Robbie Moore: We expect to decide the next steps on Thames Water’s draft water resources management plan in the new year.

Wood-burning Stoves: Pollution Control

Geraint Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what the emission limit is in grams per hour for wood burning appliances in smoke control areas; and when it entered into force.

Robbie Moore: Wood may only be burned in a Smoke Control Area in a Defra exempt appliance. A Defra exempt appliance may not emit more than 5 grams of smoke per hour. The limits were first introduced in 1969 via the published document PD6434:1969, with the test methodology updated in 1994 via BS3841-1:1994.

Waste Management

Alex Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will publish proposals for refill/reuse obligations as part of the Government’s waste and resource strategy.

Robbie Moore: The introduction of Extended Producer Responsibility for Packaging, as part of the Collection and Packaging reforms, will move the full cost of dealing with packaging waste generated by households from local taxpayers and councils to businesses that handle and use packaging (applying the ‘polluter-pays principle’). This will encourage businesses to think carefully about how much packaging they use and how easy it is to recycle. It will also encourage use of refillable and reusable packaging which will have a great role to play in driving down unnecessary waste. We are working with WRAP to identify and analyse measures that could be used to encourage greater use of refillable and reuseable packaging. We remain committed to introducing refill/reuse obligations and will bring forward our proposals shortly.

Packaging: Recycling

Alex Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether his Department has taken recent steps to identify measures that could be used to encourage greater use of (a) refillable and (b) reusable packaging.

Robbie Moore: We are working with WRAP to identify and analyse measures that could be used to encourage greater use of refillable and reuseable packaging. We remain committed to introducing refill/reuse obligations and will bring forward our proposals shortly.

Air Pollution

Geraint Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether his Department plans to support Clean Air Night on 24 January 2024.

Robbie Moore: The Government recently launched the ‘Burn Better, Breathe Better’ campaign which raises awareness of the cleanest and most efficient burning practices. We will continue to engage with the Global Action Plan in the run up to Clean Air Night.

Fires and Fireworks: Air Pollution

Geraint Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what information his Department holds on the potential impact of festival bonfires and fireworks on air pollution.

Robbie Moore: Data from Defra’s air quality monitoring networks is held on the UK AIR website. We often measure temporary elevated levels of PM2.5 in some locations on the 5th of November. Further information can also be found in ‘Air Pollution in the UK’ annual reports.

Food Banks

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps he is taking increase support for food banks in winter 2023-24.

Mark Spencer: The Government does not have any role in the operation of foodbanks. Foodbanks are independent, charitable organisations which bring people in local communities together to support one another. This is a great example of the generosity of spirit of communities across the country. The Government is providing over £100 million of support for charities and community organisations in England to support the impacts of the increase in cost of living. This funding is supporting charities and community organisations right now through the £76 million Community Organisations Cost of Living Fund. This fund has closed for applications and is awarding funding to frontline organisations supporting vulnerable households, including those which deliver food. The second strand of the package, the £25.5 million VCSE Energy Efficiency Scheme, will provide investment in energy efficiency measures, with more details to be announced in due course. Taken together, total support over 2022/23-2024/25 to help households with the high cost of living amounts to £104 billion – an average of £3,700 per UK household.

Hornets: Pollinators

Sarah Dyke: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of the Asian Hornet on (a) honey bees and (b) other wild pollinators (i) since January 2023 and (ii) from January 2024.

Rebecca Pow: The Government recognises the essential role played by honey bees and wild pollinators in our environment, acknowledging their contribution to crop pollination. Additionally, pollinators play a vital role in supporting the natural ecosystem. Asian hornets prey on honey bees and other pollinators so pose a significant threat to the pollination services that these insects provide. To date, rapid action has been taken in the UK to find and destroy Asian hornet nests. We would expect that there has been a localised impact on honey bee colonies and other pollinators. The Government remains committed to taking swift and effective contingency action against Asian hornet in 2024 thereby continuing to minimise the impacts on honey bees and other pollinators.

Food Supply: Reviews

Sir John Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how much his Department spent on Henry Dimbleby's independent review of England's food chain.

Mark Spencer: We are unable to provide this information as it is not disaggregated in the manner requested and manually calculating it in the time available would incur disproportionate costs.

Animal Welfare (Licensing of Activities Involving Animals) (England) Regulations 2018

Henry Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, when he plans to undertake a post-implementation review of the Animal Welfare (Licensing of Activities Involving Animals) (England) Regulations 2018.

Mark Spencer: Defra has been working on a post-implementation review (PIR) of the Animal Welfare (Licensing of Activities Involving Animals) (England) Regulations 2018 in line with the requirements of the regulations’ review clause. This review considers whether the regulations have met their objectives, and where there could be scope for further improvements.Defra values the engagement of sector partners, local authorities, animal welfare groups, and licensed and unlicensed businesses working in the sector. We will continue a close dialogue with these stakeholders as we work to implement the review’s recommendations.We recognise the importance of this PIR, and thus want to ensure that we have had sufficient time to properly consider the findings. The PIR will be published soon.

Dangerous Dogs

Dean Russell: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether his Department is taking steps to help ensure that dogs with similar characteristics to the American XL Bully are not incorrectly affected by the newban.

Mark Spencer: During the transition period, it is up to owners to identify whether they think their dog may be in scope of the XL Bully ban and whether they wish to apply for a Certificate of Exemption.  We recommend taking a precautionary approach. If they are unsure if their dog is a XL Bully or whether any puppies may grow up to be of this dog type, owners should comply with the relevant requirements and restrictions as they come into force. The definition and guidance have been published on gov.uk to help owners and enforcement officers understand whether a dog should be defined as an XL Bully. Dog Legislation Officers are responsible for identifying prohibited breed types for the purposes of Section 1 of the Dangerous Dogs Act 1991 and enforcing the ban once it comes into force. We will be supporting the police to deliver additional training to Dog Legislation Officers to ensure they are upskilled and able to consistently apply the breed standard for the XL Bully breed type.

Pets

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether he plans to take steps to help improve the regulation of the pet industry.

Mark Spencer: Activities such as the breeding and sale of pets and pet boarding are regulated under the Animal Welfare (Licensing of Activities Involving Animals) (England) Regulations 2018. Defra is in the process of completing a post-implementation review (PIR) of the Regulations. This review considers whether the regulations have met their objectives, and where there could be scope for further improvements. We recognise the importance of this PIR, and thus want to ensure that we have had sufficient time to properly consider the findings. The PIR will be published soon. Defra values the engagement of sector partners, local authorities, animal welfare groups, and licensed and unlicensed businesses working in the sector. We will continue a close dialogue with these stakeholders as we work to implement the review’s recommendations.

Forests

Wendy Chamberlain: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to meet its target to create 30,000 hectares of new woodland each year from May 2024.

Rebecca Pow: After the Nature for Climate Programme ends, the England Woodland Creation Offer (EWCO) and Woodland Creation Planning Grant (WCPG) will transition to become part of the Countryside Stewardship scheme – one of the new environmental land management (ELM) schemes. We will take a phased approach to the transition of EWCO and WCPG into the ELM schemes to ensure there is no gap in offering grants to applicants for woodland creation. The future Countryside Stewardship woodland creation offer will largely mirror the EWCO offer.

Dogs: Smuggling

Ruth Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what estimate he has made of the number of puppies that have been illegally smuggled into the UK for sale in each of the last five years.

Mark Spencer: Due to the nature of smuggling, the Animal and Plant Health Agency does not hold specific data on the total number of puppies illegally smuggled each year. The total number of non-compliances detected on certificates accompanying commercially imported dogs, cats and ferrets from EU countries are: YearNumber of non-compliances202120,347202217,8332023 (up to September)6,195

3-nitrooxypropanol: Northern Ireland

Kerry McCarthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the (a) prevalence and (b) impact on the level of methane emissions of the use of 3-nitroxyproponol by the (i) food and (ii) farming sectors in Northern Ireland.

Mark Spencer: We consider methane-suppressing feed products as an essential tool to decarbonise the agricultural sector, and in England we will work with industry to incentivise the uptake of high efficacy products with proven safety once suitable products enter the market. 3NOP (3-nitroxyproponol) is a promising product that is claimed to reduce methane emissions from ruminants by up to 30%. 3NOP was approved by the European Food Safety Authority for use in Europe (and by extension Northern Ireland) in 2022. The prevalence and impact of these products on farming sectors in Northern Ireland is devolved to the Northern Ireland Executive and the responsibility of the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs.

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs: Theft

Sarah Olney: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what data their Department holds on the (a) number and (b) total cost of replacing (i) laptops, (ii) mobile phones, (iii) memory sticks and (iv) external hard drives that have been (A) lost and (B) stolen in the last year.

Mark Spencer: (a) The following table includes the number of lost or stolen devices in the last year (October 2022 to October 2023) from core Defra. Defra’s recording system has only recently started to differentiate between lost and stolen devices. Therefore, these numbers for the last full year have been amalgamated. ItemsNumberLaptops37Phones93Other assets (memory sticks and other External storages)2Total132 All departmental IT is fully security encrypted. The departmental security unit records and investigates each reported loss from the Department. If appropriate, the police are invited to undertake further inquiries. Any mobile device reported as lost is immediately and remotely deactivated and the contents deleted. There has been no data loss or compromise as a result of these losses. (b) Replacement costs are not broken down for core Defra and its Arm’s Length Bodies. As such, the replacement costs for core Defra only are not held centrally and to obtain this information would incur disproportionate costs.

Treasury

Revenue and Customs: Telephone Services

Tahir Ali: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what the longest waiting time was for people trying to contact HMRC by telephone on 5 December 2023.

Nigel Huddleston: HMRC publishes its performance data on a monthly and quarterly basis as below:https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/hmrc-monthly-performance-reports https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/hmrc-quarterly-performance-updates

Public Sector Debt

Jim Shannon: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps his Department is taking reduce the national debt in the (a) short- and (b) medium-term.

Bim Afolami: The Government is committed to sustainable public finances and has taken responsible decisions to keep debt falling, while reducing taxes and boosting economic growth. Over the short and medium-term, this includes tough choices to control public pending and drive greater efficiencies. The independent Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) confirmed that underlying debt is forecast to fall to 92.8% of GDP in 2028-29 and is 2.1 percentage points lower on average compared to the OBR’s March forecast.

Mortgages: Mid Bedfordshire

Alistair Strathern: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of interest rates on the number of mortgage defaults in Mid Bedfordshire constituency.

Bim Afolami: The pricing and availability of mortgages is a commercial decision for lenders in which the Government does not intervene. However, we recognise this is a concerning time for mortgage borrowers. The path to lower interest rates is through low inflation. The independent Monetary Policy Committee continues to have the Government’s full support as it takes action to return inflation to target. The Government’s Mortgage Charter - in addition to the significant safeguards already in place - is providing support to vulnerable households; and mortgage arrears and repossessions remain low.

Revenue and Customs: ICT

Matt Rodda: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to the guidance by the Central Digital and Data Office entitled Guidance on the Legacy IT Risk Assessment Framework, published on 29 September 2023, how many red-rated IT systems are used by HMRC as of 6 December 2023.

Nigel Huddleston: The information held about Red Rated Systems is sensitive and can not be disclosed due to security considerations.

Northern Ireland Office

Victims' Payments Scheme: Northern Ireland

Stephen Farry: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, whether he has made an assessment of the potential merits of extending the deadlines for (a) eligibility for back payments and (b) all applications to the Victim Payments Board.

Mr Steve Baker: The Victims Payments Regulations (2020) requires the Secretary of State to conduct a review and report on the operation of the scheme between August 2023 and August 2024. These issues - the possibility of extending the periods for backdating payments and for the submission of new applications - will be considered as part of this review. If the Hon Gentleman would like to make his case in correspondence, I will ensure his views are duly considered.

Elections: Northern Ireland

Mr Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, pursuant to the Answer of 5 December 2023 to Question 4640 on Elections: Northern Ireland and with reference to page six of the report by the Electoral Commission entitled Report on the May 2023 local elections in Northern Ireland, published on 13 July 2023, whether the three matters noted as the most chosen reasons for not being confident were discussed.

Mr Steve Baker: The Electoral Commission and Northern Ireland Office discuss a range of electoral issues when they meet, including those relating to voter confidence in the electoral system. If the Hon Gentleman wishes, he is welcome to a meeting so I can better understand his concerns and seek to answer them directly.

Department for Energy Security and Net Zero

Department for Energy Security and Net Zero: Recruitment

Jonathan Ashworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, how much her Department spent on external recruitment consultants in the (a) 2020-21, (b) 2021-22 and (c) 2022-23 financial year.

Amanda Solloway: The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero did not exist as a separate department for the years in question. It is not possible to split the value of external recruitment consultants from the rest of the Department for Business Energy and Industrial Strategy. External recruitment agencies and search firms are an important resource which support the Civil Service's ability to recruit - to find talented people, in the right places, with the right capabilities to deliver for the people of the United Kingdom. The Civil Service has developed a number of commercial frameworks which provide transparency, high quality services and value for money.

Offshore Industry: Falkland Islands

Alexander Stafford: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, if she will make an assessment of the potential impact of extracting (a) oil and (b) gas from around the Falkland Islands on the UK's net zero targets.

Amanda Solloway: The UK’s ratification of the Paris Agreement has not been extended to the Falkland Islands and so its emissions are not within scope of the UK’s net zero by 2050 target.

Offshore Industry: Falkland Islands

Alexander Stafford: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, if she will make an assessment of the potential impact of extracting (a) oil and (b) gas from around the Falkland Islands on the economy of the Falkland Islands.

Amanda Solloway: The UK supports the right of the Falkland Islanders to develop their natural resources for their own economic benefit. This is an integral part of their right of self-determination. However, while there is an oil production project under active consideration, it is yet to be seen whether fossil fuel projects there will progress to production. This is a commercial decision for the companies involved, following the relevant regulatory requirements in the Falkland Islands. Policy on hydrocarbons development – and its impact on the Territory (including its economic impact) - is a matter for the Falkland Islands Government.

District Heating: Greater London

Geraint Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, whether she plans to issue guidance to (a) owners, (b) operators and (c) occupiers of large buildings in Greater London on recent changes to the law affecting how they should connect to and use heat networks.

Amanda Solloway: The Department has recently completed a consultation on consumer protection for heat network customers and intends to lay secondary legislation before Parliament in 2024. We will also publish a consultation on zoning regulations for heat networks shortly. The Department is engaging with heat network customers, owners, operators, and other key stakeholders to inform them of future changes to heat networks policy, and to ensure that regulations provide fair prices for consumers, mitigate risk for heat network developers and ensure heat networks form an effective part of the UK’s net-zero commitment.

Carbon Emissions: Buildings

Geraint Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, whether she plans to provide guidance to (a) owners, (b) operators and (c) occupiers of large buildings in Greater London on recent changes to the law affecting how they should meet energy needs in the period after 2025.

Amanda Solloway: The Government has no plans to provide guidance to owners, operators, and occupiers of large buildings in Greater London on recent changes to the law affecting how they should meet their energy needs after 2025.

Heating: Greater London

Geraint Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, whether she plans to provide guidance to (a) owners, (b) operators and (c) occupiers of large buildings in Greater London on the use of electricity from the national grid for (i) space heating and (ii) hot water after 2025.

Amanda Solloway: The Government has no plans to provide guidance to owners, operators, and occupiers of large buildings in Greater London on the use of electricity from the National Grid for space heating and hot water after 2025.

Energy Supply: Radio Frequencies

Angus Brendan MacNeil: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, with reference to recommendation 27 of the report entitled The Second National Infrastructure Assessment published by the National Infrastructure Commission in October 2023, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of utilising radio spectrum for energy networks.

Amanda Solloway: Ofcom published a consultation on possible spectrum for the energy and water utilities in June, identifying 5 bands for the potential use by the energy sector (https://www.ofcom.org.uk/consultations-and-statements/category-1/potential-spectrum-bands-to-support-utilities). In response to this consultation, the Government has contracted Fraser Nash Consultancy to produce a report looking at the technical feasibility and indicative cost of each of the options Ofcom identified, together with other communication solutions that do not require new radio spectrum. This report will be published in due course.

Energy: Billing

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what her Department's policy is on (a) British Gas and (b) other energy providers reducing direct debit payments when customers' accounts are in credit; and what information her Department holds on the amount of customers' money held in credit by energy providers.

Amanda Solloway: As the independent regulator, Ofgem requires British Gas and other energy providers to refund a domestic customer’s credit balance promptly unless they have reasonable grounds not to, which must be explained to the customer. Customers may also review the level of their direct debit payments at any time by taking a meter reading and contacting their provider. This Department does not hold information on the amount of customers’ credit balances held by energy providers.